THE’ RING DO’ t 
COLUMBA PALUMBUS 
LocaL names in surrounding counties: ‘‘ Ring Dow ” 
(Essex). 
Status IN British Avirauna: A universally distributed 
and common resident in all woodland districts, its num- 
bers largely increased in autumn by migrants from the 
Continent. 
RapiaL DisTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 
Pauw’s: ‘The Ring Dove is rapidly becoming one of the 
most familiar birds in the central parts of the Metropolis, 
and a convincing object-lesson of the tameness of wild 
creatures when left unmolested by man. ‘The increase 
and dispersal of the Ring Dove in London during the 
past twenty years is one of the most remarkable facts in 
the ornithology of the Metropolis. Many years ago it 
was known that a few pairs of this Dove nested in the 
grounds of Buckingham Palace. It is apparently from 
this centre that the bird has dispersed over London, and it 
may at the present time be found nesting not only in all 
the large urban parks, but in many of the squares and 
open spaces right up almost to the walls of the Cathedral. 
There were several pairs of Ring Doves nesting last spring 
in Gray’s Inn; several more in New Court and other parts 
of the Temple; others in Lincoln’s Inn, and a pair in 
Upper Thames Street. From these central districts 
the Ring Dove may be found nesting in many parts of 
London even in the most busy thoroughfares. I have 
seen nests on the Embankment, in Leicester Square, in the 
plane-trees along the Euston Road (there is a nest just 
outside Baker Street Station), near the Royal Oak, 
Paddington, in the grounds of the Lock Hospital, in 
Connaught and Berkeley Squares, as well as many other 
places. ‘The bird is also common and widely dispersed over 
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