THE TURTLE DOVE 
when this pretty bird will regularly resort to the Jarger 
parks, especially where thickets and shrubberies abound. 
Greater precautions, however, will have to be taken against 
prowling cats, and the hordes of rats that infest these 
places and constitute the greatest danger to the wild 
birds frequenting them. The Turtle Dove leaves this 
country for the south in September. It is a shy and 
retiring bird, delighting to conceal itself amongst the 
foliage of trees and tall hedges, from which its pleasant 
cooing cry sounds most persistently during early summer. 
It visits the ground to feed, walking about with the usual 
bobbing gait of its kind, but at the least alarm hurries 
off with a rattle of wings to the nearest cover. Its food 
consists of grain and seeds, small fruits and berries, and 
the tender shoots of clover and other plants. In some 
of its London haunts, especially in grounds where it is 
left unmolested, I have often noticed that much of its 
usual wariness and timidity have disappeared. I saw a 
pair on one occasion near Hendon flying about a large 
garden almost as tame as Doves kept in confinement. 
The note is pleasing, full-toned, and soft, a guttural 
coo-r-r-r coo, oft repeated, and in the love season modu- 
lated in various ways. It commences breeding soon after 
its arrival, and as eggs may be found from May to August 
in some cases at least more than one brood must be reared 
in the season. ‘The flat, wicker-like platform that serves 
for a nest is built in tall bushes and dense hedgerows 
in preference to high trees. It is made of slender dry 
twigs, and is so slightly put together that the eggs may 
often be seen through it from below. ‘These are two in 
number, and creamy white. As autumn comes on the 
Turtle Dove becomes more or less gregarious, and flocks 
of various size frequent the stubbles, turnip-fields, and 
weed-grown pastures, and migrate without disbanding. 
These flocks now wander about a good deal, but often 
return to certain favourite places to roost. 
250 
