STOCK-DOVE, AND COMMON PIGEON. 169 



Surift, or Black Martin. The Swift is more constantly 

 on wing than any other of the Swallow tribe in our island* 

 and is readily known by its large size, its great extent 

 of wing, the uniformly dark colour of its body, except the 

 chin, which is white, and by the continued loud and 

 screaming noise which it makes. The legs of the Swift 

 are so short, that it is not able, without difficulty, to raise 

 itself from the ground. It usually rests by clinging 

 against the sides of walls, or alighting on the pointed roofs 

 of buildings. It breeds under the eaves of houses, in 

 steeples, and other lofty edifices ; and seldom lays more 

 than two eggs, which are of a white colour. Swifts seem 

 to delight in sultry weather, and fly at such times, in small 

 parties, with peculiar strength and rapidity. 



26. PIGEON TRIBE. 



The Pigeons form a connecting link betwixt the pas- 

 serine birds and poultry. During the breeding season 

 they associate in pairs. Their voice is termed cooing. 



Stock-Dove, and Common Pigeon. These -are the 

 same bird in its wild and its domestic state ; the Stock- 

 Dove, as its name implies, being the original stock 

 or stem, from which all the domestic kinds originated. 

 There is, in the simple and innocent manners of 

 these birds, something extremely pleasing, something 

 which gives us an idea of meekness and gentleness, be- 

 yond any other of the feathered tribes. We are in- 

 formed, that the Romans were the first who instructed 

 the inhabitants of our islands to construct pigeon- 

 houses, and to render these birds subservient to their 

 appetites. The Stock-Dove builds its nest in holes of 

 rocks, or the hollows of trees ; and not, like the Ring- 



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