158 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds 



the wall " ; and so, when the pack is sprung, it is the sickly one 

 the weak one, the " lag-last/' which, with a cry of impending and 

 unavoidable fate, yields up its life to the unerring swoop of its re- 

 lentless foe. 



But I Euust hasten on to my mention of the first family of the 

 Kasores (literally scratchers) , or Ground Birds, which consists of 

 the Doves, of which there are four well-known species, indigenous 

 to our islands, all common, though some more local than others. 



Of these the first to come to the front would naturally be Columha 

 Palumius, " The Woodpigeon " : also called the Ring-Dove, Cushat, 

 Quest, Quisty, &c. This is a bird dear to every juvenile sportsman, 

 on whose memory will be indelibly impressed his first successful stalk 

 after so coveted a prize. I shall never forget the eager clutch I 

 made at a crippled sjDecimen of the above, as he was shuffling as 

 fast as he could to the shelter of some friendly brambles, which he 

 reached just before I could overtake him ; the result of which was 

 that he left his entire tail in my hand, spoiling altogether the ap- 

 pearance of my prize, which, to my vexation, did not look afterwards 

 half as big as it ought to have done. 



This is one of our abused friends at times ; though, like a sensible 

 bird as he is, he does not take much notice of it, and goes on his 

 way without giving heed to the calumnies heaped upon him. I 

 need not introduce him personally to the I'eader, as he is admitted 

 into bird society generally, and, when got up in his best dress, is a 

 well-to-do comely-looking bird; and though not showy, reads a 

 lesson to some of us in taste as to the pleasing effect of judiciously 

 blending cognate colours, and avoiding strong contrasts. Our 

 friend's reiterated song (or that, rather, which he means for one) 

 need not be dwelt upon either, though here, again, his character has 

 been maligned, should the old tradition be indeed trae, that it was 

 he who induced the Welshman to think that he might as well be 

 hung for a cow as a sheep, or rather steal two cows while he was 

 about it, instead of one, for which, perchance in punishment, he is 

 still constrained to utter the same refrain " Ttoo cows Tafiy-take," 

 laying the most unmistakable stress on the number to be appropri- 

 ated. 



