396 BRITISH BIRDS. 
COLUMBA PALUMBUS. 
RING-DOVE. 
(Pxate 17.) 
Columba palumbus, Briss. Orn. i. p. 89 (1760); Linn. Syst. Nat. 1. p. 282 (1766) ; 
et auctorum plurimorum—Latham, Temminck, Nawmann, Dresser, Saunders, 
&e. 
Columba torquata, Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. §c. Brit. Mus. p. 26 (1816). 
Palumbus palumbus (Linn.), Kaup, Nat. Syst. p. 107 (1829). 
Columba pinetorum, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl. p. 488 (1831). 
Palumbus torquatus (Leach), Bonap. Cat. Parzud. p. 9 (1856). 
Palumbus excelsus, Bonap. Compt. Rend. xliii. p. 836 (1856). 
The Ring-Dove is a common resident in the wooded districts of 
England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. In the latter country it 
is said to decrease or increase in numbers as plantations are cut down 
or new ones made; but in Scotland, where the number of plantations has 
greatly increased and the preservation of game has been carried to a much 
greater degree, it has, as might naturally be expected, become much more 
abundant, especially in winter, when the flocks of resident birds are 
increased by visitors from the continent, some of which pass the Orkney 
and Shetland Islands on migration. It breeds sparingly on the Channel 
Islands and on the Inner Hebrides; but on the Outer Hebrides it is only 
known as an accidental straggler in spring and autumn. 
The Ring-Dove is confined to the Western Palearctic Region, where it 
is a resident, except in the most northern portions of its range. In Scan- 
dinavia and West Russia it is a common summer visitor up to lat. 64°, and 
occasionally strays as far north as the Arctic circle and as far west as the 
Faroes. In the Ural Mountains it does not appear to breed north of 
lat. 60°, but occasionally wanders eastwards into the valley of the Tobol. 
It is an accidental visitor to the Azores, but has not been recorded from 
the other Atlantic islands. It breeds sparingly throughout the basin of 
the Mediterranean, but is principally known in that district as a winter 
visitor. It is doubtful whether it breeds in Palestine, and there is no 
satisfactory evidence of its ever having occurred in Egypt at any season of 
the year. Itisa resident below the pine-region of the Caucasus; but in 
Persia, Afghanistan, and Turkestan, as far east as Gilgit, it is represented 
by Columba casiotis, which differs m having the neck-patch buff instead of 
pure white. 
The Ring-Dove, Wood-Pigeon, or Cushat is not only the largest but is 
