^ COLUMBID^. 



The Ring Dove, so called from the white feathers which 

 form a partial ring round its neck, and equally well known 

 in many parts of England as the Wood Pigeon, and in 

 the North as the Queest or the Cushat, is the largest memher 

 of the genus found in Europe. It is an abundant and gene- 

 rally distributed species throughout the British Islands ; its 

 numbers having increased of late years to an extent which 

 has caused grave anxiety to the farmers. This is mainly 

 owing to the altered conditions of cultivation ; the large 

 proportion of land now under turnips and other green crops 

 supplying food which was formerly wanting during the 

 inclement months ; whilst the numerous small plantations 

 which have lately sprung up afiford just the kind of shelter 

 that the Ring Dove requires : — open enough to preclude 

 the approach of an unseen adversary, — close enough for 

 protection from the weather and for breeding purposes. 

 Add to this, that its natural foes have been, as far as possible, 

 destroyed by game-preservers and their keepers, and it can 

 hardly be a matter of surprise that under such favourable 

 circumstances the species is now far more numerically 

 abundant than in former years. In addition to those bred 

 in this country, large flocks make their appearance in winter 

 and autumn, crossing the North Sea from the continent by 

 an E. to W. flight. 



The note of this Dove — a deep coo too, coo coo — may be 

 frequently heard in the months of March and April in the 

 neighbourhood of woods and plantations, particularly those 

 of firs, in which it delights to build. The nest usually 

 consists of merely a few sticks laid across, at times so thinly 

 that the eggs can be distinguished from below ; but it is 

 often more substantial, and occasionally the old nest of 

 some other bird, or a squirrel's drey, serves as a foundation. 

 Although generally at some distance from the ground, it is 

 also to be found in hedgerows of old hawthorn ; and Mr. R. 

 G-ray states that near Arbroath, in Forfarshire, nests have 

 been observed in tall whin bushes.* Not unfrequently it 



* Birds of the West of Scotland, p. 218. 



