424 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
alike -destructive to grain in the ear or germinating. ‘The female 
builds her-nest in lofty trees, which is formed out of materials which 
the male brings her, such as little dead branches detached from trees ; 
for. the boughs which strew the ground are never used. ‘This birth- 
place of the young is but a rude structure, scarcely large enough to 
contain them, and sometimes falls to pieces before they are able to 
fly ; in this case the brood retains, if possible, a position on the large 
branches which supported their previous dwelling. Queests, as they 
are frequently called, generally lay in March and August. Incubation 
lasts twelve days, and the progeny can take flight about two weeks 
afterwards. During the time of incubation: and education of the 
young the male remains near the female, constantly cooing, as if to 
break the monotony of her occupation. In the wild state Ring- 
doves are shy and difficult of approach, but their characters become 
modified by domestication, or even by an independent life passed in 
the neighbourhood of man. Thus, taken before leaving the nest, 
they familiarise themselves without difficulty, and do not appear to 
regret having lost their liberty. They do not breed in this condition 
—or at least we do not know how to make them do so; it is said that 
the ancients understood this art. 
Ring-doves are seen in Paris which have from time immemorial 
chosen a domicile in the gardens of the Tuileries, Luxembourg, and 
Champs Elysées. They are very tame, and come almost under the 
feet of promenaders. Few inhabitants of the gay city have not seen 
at the Tuileries the charming spectacle of an old man who attracts 
round him numbers of wood-pigeons and sparrows, to which he 
distributes crumbs of bread. The confidence they show to this kind 
friend as an acknowledgment of his goodness is wonderful: they rest 
upon his shoulders, take the bread from between his fingers, and 
even from his mouth, and allow themselves to be caressed without 
manifesting the least fear: this is evidence of the possibility of taming 
Ring-pigeons. 
Stock-doves (Columba Cinas) have many traits of resemblance to 
Ring-pigeons, but they are smaller, justifying the name of Little Queest 
which is sometimes given to them; their habits are the same as those. 
of the preceding species, except that they build their nests in the 
hollows of trees instead of upon the branches, as the former species 
do. ‘They are very plentiful in the South of Europe and in Africa. 
‘They leave France regularly in the month of October. 
Rock-pigeons (Columba “ivia, Fig. 162) delight in stony and 
arid places. ‘They deposit their two eggs in the clefts of rocks or 
in ruins.. They are seldom seen in Europe in a state of complete 
