FOR CAGES AND A VI ARIES. 



39 



It is a wood-loving species and formerly seldom came near 

 human habitations ; cases, however, are on record in which 

 it has been so well disposed towards man as to establish 

 itself in gardens, and become so tame as to accept food 

 from the hand of its protector. Whether that be the case 

 or not, it has of late years taken up its abode in consid- 

 erable numbers in several of the London Parks, w^here it 

 breeds and is quite as tame and fearless as the Sparrows. 

 The writer counted thirty-six one afternoon in St. James's 

 Park, and saw two in Leicester Square, as well as several 

 others in the open space around Westminster Abbey. 



This is a curious exemplification of the changes that take 

 place spontaneously in the habits of wild animals, and the 

 explanation probably is that the birds were so persecuted 

 in their native haunts as to seek protection from their 

 enemies amid the smoke and bustle of towns; and having 

 found the security they were in search of, settled them- 

 selves finally in the most unlikely places. 



Like most of the Pigeons, the Ringdove lays two eggs, 

 white in colour, on an inartistic platform of sticks very 

 variously situated according to circumstances, sometimes 

 on a tall tree forty, fifty, or more feet from the ground, 

 and sometimes in a shrub or even a hedge of very mod- 

 erate height only. The nest, so-called, is such a very 

 flimsy construction that a high wind often scatters it in 

 every direction, and the eggs are discernible through it to 

 any person standing below. About twenty feet above the 

 soil is, however, an average distance, and firs and pines 

 are very frequently selected, but more especially the larch, 

 the horizontally projecting branches of which afford a 

 convenient foundation for the nest. . 



The young grow rapidly, and are easily enough reared 

 on soaked peas and other seeds, but the precaution of 

 mixing a little clean grit with the food now and then 

 should on no account be neglected, as it helps the little 

 Doves to digest their meals more perfectly. Thus reared, the 

 Wood Pigeons will generally get to be very tame. Their 

 eggs may be put under a domestic Pigeon, but sometimes 

 the latter will refuse to feed the little strangers, which are 

 covered first with yellow down and then with bluish prickles 



