COLUMBID^,. 



469 



THE STOCK-DOVE. 



CoLUiMBA (ENAS, Linnreus. 



The Stock-Dove has often been confounded with the white- 

 rumped Rock-Dove, and even its name has erroneously been sup- 

 posed to signify that it was the origin of our domestic breed, though 

 really referring to its habit of nesting in the " stocks " of trees : 

 whence also the Danish ' Huldue,' and the Oerman ' Hohltaube,' 

 both meaning Hole-Dove. In the south of England it has greatly 

 increased in numbers of late years, and, though somewhat local, it 

 is tolerably frequent in most districts where old timber exists ; for 

 instance, in the remains of our ancient forests, and in our parks, 

 even when close to London. It is this species — and not the Rock- 

 Dove — which inhabits the wooded crags near Ventnor in the Isle 

 of Wight, as well as the cliffs of Dorset and some parts of Devon ; 

 it even nests in the rocks at Flamborough Head in Yorkshire, 

 though there its white-rumped congener is also found. In sandy 

 soils, such as are met with in Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, the 

 East Riding of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumberland Src, it deposits 

 its eggs in rabbit-burrows, or under the shelter of dense furze ; while 

 in many places it is persistently misnamed ' Rock-Dove ' or even 

 ' Blue Rock ' by the inhabitants. Its range northwards is rapidly 



