By the Rev. A. C. Smith. ■ 163 



distinguished from the rest of their tribe by the appellation of 

 Pigeon fowls. 



To return however to our Wiltshire species, all of which belong 

 to one genus, and partake of the same nature. We shall find them 

 gentle, timid, shy, of powerful wing, of slender bill, and of short 

 leg. They feed on the ground, and both sexes alternately take part 

 in incubating the two eggs which is the normal complement of the 

 nest. Their notes are singularly sad and melancholy, and though 

 they vary much in the different species, all partake of this mourn- 

 ful plaintive character, which however is by no means unpleasing, 

 but on the contrary, rather attractive, soothing and pleasant. 

 Their conjugal fidelity is proverbial, and from the days of Noah 

 they have been honoured as the harbingers of peace and love, both 

 by Pagans of Rome and Greece as sacred to Venus, and by 

 Christians as emblematic of the Holy Spirit. I am bound to add 

 that at certain seasons they are a destructive race of birds, making 

 great havoc in the pea fields, and consuming an astonishing amount 

 of grain: but while I concede thus much in regard to the injury 

 they do to the farmer, it must not be forgotten on the other hand 

 the essential service they render him, in the millions of seeds of a 

 noxious character which they consume. This family is remarkable 

 for the habit in which all the members which compose it share, of 

 being among the first to retire to roost, and the last to leave their 

 night-quarters in the morning. 



"Ring-Dove." {Colutnba palumbiis.) First and foremost of its 

 congeners, as the largest of the European species, and commonly 

 dispersed amongst us, wherever trees afford it a shelter, the Wood- 

 Pigeon claims our notice. In some parts of England it is known 

 as the Quest or Cushat Dove ; but the Wiltshire labourers invariably 

 call it in our fine provincial dialect the " Quisty." During the 

 autumn beech-mast and acorns form the principle part of its diet, 

 when its flesh is highly esteemed for the table : but no sooner does 

 severe weather compell it to subsist on the tops of turnips, than it 

 becomes strong and rank and uneatable. It is abundant through- 

 out the county, and except when breeding, is proverbially wild and 

 shy. It lives with us throughout the year, and congregates in 



