COLUMBID^, 55 



Stock Dove {Columba cenas). Local name, Wood 

 Pigeon. A resident species, though not so common 

 as the Ring Dove, with which it associates, and is 

 often confounded. Yarrell states that it was termed 

 certas from the vinous claret colour which is visible 

 upon the neck; the name of Stock Dove was bestowed 

 upon it, not because it was supposed to be the origin 

 of our domestic stock, but on account of its partiality 

 for nesting in the decayed stocks of trees, particu- 

 larly those which have been cut down and become 

 rough and bushy at the top, commonly called 

 pollards. 



This bird breeds in many suitable localities in both 

 counties, and is to be seen in flocks towards the end 

 of November and through the winter months, when it 

 frequents the same open ground, and subsists on the 

 same food, as its congener the Wood Pigeon. The 

 nests are sometimes found in Windsor Park, built in 

 decayed stems of old trees. 



The Rev. H. H. Crewe informed me that large 

 flocks of this species visit the neighbourhood of 

 Drayton Beauchamp every winter to feed upon the 

 beechmast, to which they seem very partial. I have 

 seen great numbers in Ashridge Park, where I have 

 on several occasions taken the nest : one of these 

 was placed in a small plantation near the Park, not 

 far from the ground in an ivy-covered thorn-tree — 

 a very unusual site. 



