CHAPTER LV. 



Turtle 



W LTHOUGH long accepted as the personification of all 

 that is sweetest and most charming in Nature, 

 as well as the emblem of lovers in the "spooniest" 

 stage of their existence, the Turtle Dove, or Turtledove, 

 is nevertheless not by any means the paragon of per- 

 fection it has been called by the poets of all ages and 

 climes, but a very fallible creature indeed. 



My own experience with it is far from favourable, 

 and yet I feel bound to admit that the bird is not 

 without its good points. In confinement, in a cage, it 

 is very nice, becomes very tame, and has rather an 

 agreeable voice ; but turn it loose into an aviary of 

 any size, and it will behave in even a more idiotic 

 manner than its relative the Ringdove, than which it 

 will turn out wilder and more unmanageable: at least 

 such is my experience. 



It is a pity this should be so, for the Turtle Dove is 

 a pretty creature, that is to say, as far as its personal 

 appearance goes; but "handsome is that handsome 



17 



