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THE STOCK DOVE. 



COLUMBA CEXAS. 



Head, throat, wings, and lower jiarts, bluish grey ; the lower parts of the neck 

 with metallic reflections, no white spots ; breast wine-red ; a black spot on 

 the two last secondaries and some of the wing-coverts ; primaries grey at the 

 base, passing into dusky ; tail grey, barred with black at the extremity, the 

 outer feather with a white spot on the outer web near the base ; irides red- 

 dish brown ; bill yellow, red at the base ; feet red ; claws dusky. Length 

 twelve and a half inches. Eggs white. 



The Stock Dove is by some j)ersons supposed to be so 

 called from its having been believed at one time to be the 

 origin of the domestic Pigeon ; but as it bore the name 

 before the above question was mooted, it is more reasonable 

 to suppose that it derived its name from its habit of nest- 

 ling in the stocks of trees, and not on the branches like the 

 Ring Dove, nor in caves like the Rock Dove. Eay and 

 Willughby, who treat the domestic Dove as a distinct 

 species, gave it the name of CEnas (from the Greek oinos^ 

 wine), and Vinago (from the Latin viniim), from the purpled 



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