ROCK DOVE. 



COLUMBM. 



13 



COLUMBJBM. 



CoLUMBA LiviA, Gmelin.* 

 THE ROCK DOVE. 



Columha livia. 



The Rock Dove, as its name implies, is a species which, 

 in its natural and wild state, inhabits rocks whose cavities 

 afford it shelter during the greater part of the year. Such 

 localities are in these islands principally confined to the sea- 

 coast, and consequently the records of the Rock Dove being 

 found breeding inland are, in many cases, open to the 

 suspicion that either the Stock Dove has been mistaken for 

 it, or that the individuals in question are really domestic 

 birds which have abandoned the dovecote. It has already 

 been pointed out that even on the sea-coast it is frequently 



* Columba livia, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 769 (1788), ex Brisson. There is 

 some uncertainty about Gmelin's description, but the name has been universally 

 adopted for this species. 



