WOOD PIGEON 



2137 



longer than the sixth. Space only permits of mentioning a few more important 

 members, among which must be included the rock dove or blue rock (C. livid}, 

 widely spread over Europe, and extending as far as India in the east, where it 

 meets the nearly-allied but gray-rumped species (C. intermedia}; southward it 

 ranges to the north and west coasts of Africa, where another closely-related form 

 ( C. gymnocydus) is found, differing only in having the plumage dark bluish or 



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WOOD PIGEON AND STOCK DOVE. 

 (One-third natural size.) 



blackish slate color, and perhaps descended from domestic pigeons. In the original 

 wild stock of the blue rock, the plumage is gray, the rump white, and the neck and 

 upper breast metallic green and purple, while there are two narrower black bars 

 across the wing and a broader one across the end of the tail. It is found in a wild 

 state where caves and deep fissures exist, and is common along the northern coasts 

 of Scotland and Ireland, wherever suitable caves occur. The nest is placed on a 

 ledge or in a crevice of the rock in a cavern where little light penetrates. 



