350 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 

 Family COLUMBID^E. Genus TURTUR. 



TURTLE-DOVE. 



TURTUR AURITUS, Gray. 



Frequently Double Brooded. Laying Season, May and June 

 and August. 



BRITISH BREEDING AREA: North of the H umber 

 and the valley of the Don, the Turtle-Dove is a some- 

 what rare and local bird, and is not known with certainty 

 to breed in Scotland. South of the above-mentioned 

 limits it is generally distributed throughout England 

 and Wales, but becomes rarer again in the latter, and 

 also in the extreme south-western districts of England. 

 In Ireland it is only sparingly distributed in the well- 

 wooded areas. 



BREEDING HABITS : The Turtle-Dove is a summer 

 migrant to the British Islands, arriving early in May, 

 occasionally at the end of April. Its favourite breeding- 

 haunts are woods, plantations, parks, pleasure-grounds, 

 and well-timbered agricultural districts, especially those 

 in which the hedges are tall and dense. It is not 

 gregarious during the nesting period, neither is any 

 marked social tendency observable. I am of opinion 

 that this species pairs for life. I saw it in pairs even 

 whilst on migration in Algeria, and certain haunts in 

 our islands are visited yearly with marked regularity. 

 The nest is seldom at such a great altitude as that of 

 the Ring-Dove so often is, being more usually built in 

 tall bushes rather than trees. A thick dense hedge 

 is a favourite situation, and the nest may commonly be 

 found in small whitethorns, tall hollies, and even laurels. 

 It is a flat, mat-like structure, made with a few slender 

 dead twigs woven like basket-work, and is so slight 



