bivanelius and some ntees 
forms hase same strucduwe 
162 - DOUCKER—DOVE 
found the bird common (De rar. Anim. atque Stirp. Hist. Londini: 
1570, fol. 21). 
The Dotterel, Charadrius or Hudromias morinellus, is one of the 
most beautiful of the PLover-kind, and its gradual extinction in 
Great Britain is a fact much to be regretted. It has long had the 
credit of being a delicacy for the table, and has moreover lain under 
the disadvantage of being thought to be in better condition in 
spring, or early summer, when it arrives in this island on its way 
to its breeding-quarters than when it is returning southward in 
autumn. Consequently it has been for years ruthlessly shot down 
at the time when its life was most precious for the continuance of 
its species, and with the result that always attends such brutal 
practice. It used formerly to breed on the Cumberland and West- 
moreland feils, but seems to have ceased from doing so for some 
years, the birds resorting thither having been destroyed, and its 
haunts on the Scottish mountains appear to be devastated by the 
“collector ” so soon as they are discovered. So far as is at present 
known, the Dotterel,stands alone among the Charadriudz, in the 
facts that the posterior processes of the sternum extend backward 
nearly as far as the keel does, the outer pair being somewhat everted, 
and that the hen birds are larger and more brightly coloured than 
the cocks. Furthermore, the Dotterel lays only three eggs, four 
being the usual number in the Limicolw. The name Dotterel is 
often applied, with or without a prefix, to the Ringed Plover, 
Ajgialitis hiaticola, and some of its relations, to all of which it is 
wholly inappropriate. 
DOUCKER or DUCKER (Germ. Taucher), a word used by 
many old writers for any bird that “ducks” or dives, and wholly 
without special meaning. 
DOVE (Dutch, Duyve; Danish, Due; Icelandic, Dufa; German, 
Taube), a name which seems to be most commonly applied to the 
smaller members of the group of birds by ornithologists usualiy 
called PIGEONS, Columbe ; but no sharp distinction can be drawn 
between Pigeons and Doves, and in general literature the two 
words are used almost indifferently, while no one species can be 
pointed out to which the word Dove, taken alone, seems to be 
absolutely proper. ‘The largest of the group to which the name is 
applicable is perhaps the Ring-Dove, or Wood-Pigeon, also called in 
many parts of Britain Cushat and Queest, Columba palumbus, a very 
common bird throughout these islands and most parts of Europe. 
It associates in winter in large flocks, the numbers of which (owing 
partly to the destruction of predacious animals, but still more to 
the modern system of agriculture, and the growth of plantations in 
many districts that were before treeless) have of late years increased 
enormously, so that their depredations are at times very serious. 
