THE BIRDS OF DEVONSHIRE. Ill 



drake Smew at Flete. Mr. U. Nicholls has a 

 female shot on Kingsbridge estuary, December 80th 

 1875 (Zool. 1876. p. 4803); a pair were killed on 

 the Dart in 1871 ; two immature birds were shot 

 near Plymouth, December, 1879 ; another was 

 killed there in January 1881, and an adult drake 

 was observed in Plymouth Sound, March 11th, 1882, 

 (Zool. 1882. p. 457). 



Oeder COLUMB^. 



Family Columbid^. 

 RING DOVE. — Columha palumhis, Linn. 

 A COMMON resident in the wooded districts of the 

 County. It is a prolific breeder, and Mr. Mitchell 

 has found unhatched eggs as late as the middle of 

 September. The large flocks of immigrants which 

 appear in some seasons, feed largely on acorns. 

 Mr. Mitchell has taken forty-two acorns out of the 

 crop of a single bird. 



STOCK BOYK—Columba ce?ias, Linn. 

 A RESIDENT but local bird in Devon. Dr. Moore 

 wrote in 1837 that : ''The Stock Dove is often seen 

 in large flocks in winter" (Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837 p. 

 228). Bellamy, two years later, included the species 

 as occurring " in large flocks in winter," evidently 

 repeating Dr. Moore's words (Nat. Hist. Devon 

 p. 208). The experience of these two naturalists 



