TURTLE DOVE. 181 
The earliest record of this species relates to a bird 
that was shot at Bidston-cum-Ford in 1851. In the 
summer of 1863, a pair were observed near the 
beach at New Brighton.2 Two years later, Mr. J. H. 
Donald noted that a pair had taken up their quarters 
in Arley Park, near Northwich,’ and his inquiry whether 
the species had ever been observed in Cheshire elicited 
several replies. The Rev. W. D. Fox stated that four 
or five years previously a pair were seen about the Old 
Pale Farm in Delamere Forest, one of which was 
shot, and that later in the season another was killed in 
Oulton Park. Mr. John Price reported the presence 
of Turtle Doves in the breeding season at Kinnerton, 
near Chester, and said that he had frequently seen 
them between Chester and Birkenhead.’ Brockholes 
also replied to the effect that a few pairs visited Pud- 
dington, Burton, and Ness every year;‘ and in his 
Wirral list, published nine years later, he described 
the Turtle Dove as a common summer visitor to the 
same neighbourhood.° 
Dr. Dobie remarks upon the increase of the Turtle 
Dove in recent years in the Chester district, and states 
that it is frequently seen on the Dee Cop. He mentions 
Backford, Eaton, and Saighton as places where it has 
bred, and he possesses eggs which were taken in the 
last-named locality more than twenty-five years ago, 
It has also been observed at Ince.’ 
The Rev. C. Wolley-Dod states that the bird is very 
common at Edge, having become so during the last 
quarter of a century; and Lord Combermere makes a 
1 Byerley, op. cit. p. 17. 2H. E. Smith, op, cit. p. 239. 
3 Field, vol. xxvi. p. 43. 1865. 4 Ibid. p. 69. 
5 Ibid. p. 254. 
6 Brockholes, Proc. of Chester Soc. of Nat. Sct. and Lit., parti. p. 10. 
? Dobie, op. cit. p. 329. 
