204 THE WOOD-PIGEON OR RING DOVE 
Turbits, Barbaries, Tumblers, Horsemen, Spots, etc., modern 
though they may sound, were then applied to the very same 
varieties which are described under these names in recent Guides 
to the Poultry-yard. Many of these were of foreign origin, and 
were known at a remote period in various eastern countries, so 
that there can be no doubt that the custom of keeping tame Pigeons 
is of very ancient date. 
The Pigeons in some of their habits approach the gallinaceous 
birds, with which accordingly they are classed. They are fur- 
nished with long and powerful wings, by help of which they can 
sustain a rapid and continuous flight. They seek their food mostly 
on the ground, but do not scratch with their feet, and are more 
given to bathe in water than to flutter in a bath of dust, though 
in this habit also they not unfrequently indulge. They are fur- 
nished, moreover, with a large crop, in which the food supplied to 
their young is partially macerated and reduced to a kind of pulp 
before the latter are fed. This process is carried on more by the 
agency of the receiver than of the giver, as the young birds, instead 
of opening their mouths and allowing the food to be dropped in, 
help themselves by inserting their bills into the sides of the old 
bird’s mouth. Their mode of drinking differs from that of the 
true gallinaceous birds; they do not take short sips, lifting the 
head after every draught, but satisfy their thirst by one continuous 
immersion of the whole bill. They build their nests of a few sticks, 
and lay two white eggs. 
Some of the foreign species are distinguished by their brilliant 
plumage. Those inhabiting Britain are unmarked by gaudy tints, 
but redeemed from plainness by the metallic glossy lustre of their 
neck feathers. 
The Wood Dove, called also Wood Pigeon and Ring Dove, is 
the largest British species, exceeding in dimensions most varieties 
of the domestic Pigeon. The summer wanderer through a wood 
in almost any part of the country can scarcely fail to have been 
disturbed in his meditations by the sudden flapping of wings of 
some large bird, which, without uttering any note, dashes through 
the foliage of a neighbouring tree, and makes off with hurried 
flight for some distant part of the wood. Seen through the open- 
ings of the trees, its predominant tint is blue-grey, but a large patch 
of white is distinctly perceptible on each wing. It might be mis- 
taken for a hawk, so rapidly does it cleave its way through the air ; 
but birds of prey are too wary to betray their movements by the 
sound of their wings; they, too, rather launch into the air, than 
start with a violent clapping of their pinions. A Jay might make 
a similar noise ; but when alarmed it always utters its harsh scream, 
and, if it comes in sight, may at once be distinguished by the striking 
contrast of its white and black feathers. The bird just disturbed 
can scarcely, then, be anything but a Wood Dove, perhaps frigh- 
