346 OBSERVATIONS 



neighbourhood of Selborne. I have found four brace 

 in an afternoon, and a friend of mine lately shot nine 

 in two adjoining fields ; but I never saw them in any 

 other season than the autumn. 



That it is a bird of passage there can be little 

 doubt, though Mr. White thinks it poorly qualified 

 for migration, on account of the wings being short, 

 and not placed in the exact centre of gravity : how 

 that may be I cannot say, but I know that its heavy 

 sluggish flight is not owing to its inabilty of flying 

 faster, for I have seen it fly very swiftly ; although 

 in general its actions are sluggish. Its unwillingness 

 to rise proceeds, I imagine, from its sluggish dis- 

 position, and its great timidity ; for it will sometimes 

 squat so close to the ground as to suffer itself to be 

 taken up by the hand, rather than rise ; and yet it 

 will at times run very fast. 



What Mr. White remarks respecting the small 

 shell snails found in its gizzard, confirms my opinion, 

 that it frequents corn fields, seed clover, and brakes 

 or fern, more for the sake of snails, slugs and other 

 insects which abound in such places, than for the 

 grain or seeds ; and that it is entirely an insectivorous 

 bird. MARKWICK. 



FOOD FOR THE RING-DOVE. One of my neigh- 

 bours shot a ring-dove on an evening as it was 

 returning from feed and going to roost. When his 

 wife had picked and drawn it, she found its craw 

 stuffed with the most nice and tender tops of turnips. 

 These she washed and boiled, and so sat down to a 

 choice and delicate plate of greens, culled and pro- 

 vided in this extraordinary manner. 



Hence we may see that graminivorous birds, when 

 grain fails, can subsist on the leaves of vegetables. 

 There is reason to suppose that they would not long 

 be healthy without ; for turkeys, though corn-fed, 



