54 Forest Birds. 
a whirr out of the hole, and noisily beating its wings 
together once or twice, was off down the ride like a 
flash. Climbing up the tree, we found a large cavity, 
in which was the Stock Dove’s nest, composed of a 
few sticks, upon which were placed two glossy white 
egos. 
In wooded country the Stock Dove nests in the 
holes of old or pollard trees, and has no preference 
for a position high up or low down, for in some cases 
we have seen its nests in holes five feet off the 
ground, and in others as many as sixty feet up the 
trunk. The same tree, however, is often resorted to 
from year to year for nesting, and thus, if the hole 
is very large, the nest is gradually increased in 
thickness. 
One nest, which we particularly remember, was 
built in a hollow beech tree, and consisted of a mass 
of sticks some three or four feet deep—no doubt the 
accumulation of many years, Upon the top of this 
great pile a Stock Dove was sitting, using a hole on 
one side of the tree as an entrance to the nest; while 
on the other side, and about a foot below, was another 
hole, through which a tawny owl entered to its nest, 
made in a cavity of the same mass of sticks. Taking 
a stand at the base of the tree just beneath the owl, 
and looking up through a crevice, the Stock Dove 
could be seen on the nest above. This strange partner- 
