The Woodpigeon or Ringdove. 45 
Several times, too, we have seen as many as ten 
Woodpigeons together, feeding on the piece of grass 
under Lord Beaconsfield’s statue opposite West- 
minster Abbey. There they seem quite at home, 
taking no notice of people or traffic, so that one can 
stand within a yard of the birds and watch their 
graceful movements; moreover, the “ Kodak” 
may be brought to bear upon them, and thus, in 
London, this shy and wary bird may be portrayed 
from life! It is a lovely sight to watch them fly 
down, one after the other, from a plane tree in the 
precincts of the old Abbey. Descending with a head- 
long swoop until within about two feet from the 
grass, they suddenly check this rapid motion by 
raising their heads and spreading wide their wings 
and tails, and thus they drop gently to the ground. 
We would observe that in this downward flight the 
bird takes advantage, as it were, of every feather, 
the tail being spread out like a fan; and every 
marking on the feathers is plainly visible, while a 
bar of white feathers is conspicuous across the out- 
spread wing. As we watch them when they have 
alighted on the ground, we can but say that their 
movements are quite as graceful as inthe air. They 
strut about, daintily nodding their heads backwards 
and forwards, and every now and then they pick some- 
thing from the grass, keeping an eye all the time on 
