THE TURTLE DOVE. ^oO 



in spring and remaining with lis until the end of Septem- 

 ber. Its favourite places of resort are groves, belts of trees, 

 and tall hedge-rows in cultivated districts. Here it builds 

 its unsubstantial nest of a few sticks, and lays two eggs. 

 Its food consists of seeds of various kinds, and it has the 

 discredit of resorting to fields of green wheat for the sake 

 of feeding on the milky grain. I am doubtful whether this 

 charge can be sustained. Often enough when walking 

 through a corn-field one may see two or three Turtle Doves 

 rise suddenly from the thick corn with a rustle and low 

 cry of alarm, rapidly dart away in the direction of the 

 nearest grove, disappearing in the shade, all but a white 

 segment of a circle, formed by the tips of their tail- 

 feathers ; but on examining the spot from which they 

 rose, I have been unable to detect any ears of corn rifled 

 of their contents, though the ground was thickly matted 

 with weeds, which might have furnished them food. I 

 am informed by a young friend that he has often shot 

 them while in the act of rising from such situations, and 

 has invariably found their crops distended with the green 

 seed-vessels of a weed common in corn-fields, the corn- 

 spurrey {Sj)ergula arvensis). This being the case, the 

 Turtle Dove is more a friend than an enemy to the farmer, 

 even if it sometimes regales on ripe grain or interferes 

 with the occupation of the gleaner. It is also very par- 

 tial to vetches. I have met with an instance where a 

 Turtle Dove paid daily visits to one particular spot, under 

 a hedge in a field, and though fired at by the owner of 

 the field many times, under the idea that it was a rare 

 bird, it soon returned ; and when at last shot, its crop was 

 found to be full of vetch seeds which had been accidentally 

 spilled from a bag. 



The Turtle Dove is smaller than any of the other British 

 Doves. When flying, it seems scarcely larger than a 

 Missel Thrush ; but it is more slender in shajDc, and its 

 wings are much longer. It beats its wings, too, more 



'Al 



