LITTORAL LAND BIRDS. 273 
impetuous haste. It is more or less gregarious all 
the year round, and may frequently be seen in 
flocks on the fields near its native cliffs. Its 
food is composed of grain and seeds of all kinds, 
and the buds and shoots of plants. Its flight is 
rapid and well sustained. I was told by the natives 
of St. Kilda that the Rock Doves frequenting the 
islands cross the sea every day—a distance of 
seventy miles—to feed on the Hebrides, and there 
can be little or no doubt about this, for St. Kilda 
contains little suitable food for this grain-loving 
bird. Its note is the familiar coo. 
The Rock Dove is an early breeder, congregating 
in colonies on such cliffs as afford it the necessary 
shelter. Wherever possible the nests are made in 
caves; where these are wanting the birds scatter 
themselves about the cliffs, and place their nests in 
any convenient fissure or cleft. The bird pairs for 
life, and yearly resorts to the same _ breeding 
stations, some of the caves gaining a local reputa- 
tion in this respect. The nest is placed on some 
ledge or in a cranny, and consists of a little dry 
grass, twigs, roots, or stems of plants, arranged in 
a flat plate-like form. The two eggs are pure 
white. This species may be found breeding all the 
summer through, and rears two, if not more, broods 
each season. The Rock Dove is found on almost 
all parts of the rocky coasts of Europe and the out- 
lying islands. 
