TU RTLE DOVE 



PLATE CXXXV. FIGURE II. 



Columba furfur, . ; . LINN/EUS. LATHAM. 



Turtur auritus, . .'. . . SEEBOHM. 

 Turtur cormunius, . . . SAUNDERS. 



THE Turtle, unlike our other Doves, is a summer visitant 

 common only in the southern counties of England. 



Its nest, built in woods and hedges, is frail and carelessly 

 constructed of a few twigs and sticks, and is placed in trees 

 or thick bushes at no great height from the ground some 

 ten or twenty feet but well hidden among the foliage. 

 It is, however, itself so slight, that the eggs may be seen 

 through it. 



The eggs are two in number, and glossy white, of a 

 narrow, oval, and rather pointed form. They are laid late 

 in May or early in June, and are hatched in eighteen 

 days. The female sits on the young, if the weather be cold, 

 both night and day. Two broods are sometimes produced 

 in the year. 



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