10 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 



by migrants. Indeed, our information is decidedly negative in this respect, for the 

 Eock Doves in the Faroes and in Scandinavia are said to be resident, and their 

 appearance at Heligoland is decidedly irregular and abnormal. The Eock Dove 

 is closely associated with the sea, and dwells on the ocean cliffs and in the country 

 in their immediate vicinity all through the year. There are many inland colonies 

 of Eock Doves Doves with the rump white and the wings barred, but these 

 unquestionably are descendants of tame Pigeons which have become feral. The 

 true wild Eock Dove is found only on the coast and the country near at hand. This 

 pretty species is readily identified by its white rump, as it dashes from the cliffs. 

 It is ever shy and alert, although unwilling to take wing so long as it thinks 

 itself unseen. Its flight is rapid and powerful, performed by quick beats of the 

 wings, the bird often going long distances to feed. By the inhabitants of St. Kilda 

 it is generally believed that Eock Doves breeding on those rock-bound isles 

 visited the Hebrides, some seventy miles away, daily, for food. The Wild Pigeon 

 of North America, better known to English readers as the Passenger Pigeon, is 

 said in some cases to fly a hundred miles each day for food. All through the 

 year the Eock Dove is gregarious, and during autumn especially gathers into 

 flocks at the feeding grounds. I have often seen very large flocks of this species 

 in the fields near Flarnborough and on the farms at North Berwick. This bird 

 has a great antipathy to trees, never alights in them, and when disturbed from the 

 pastures and stubbles either hurries off to the cliffs at once, or takes a more or 

 less extended flight to another part of the fields. Upon the ground it runs about 

 in true Pigeon style, with quick, short steps and bobbing motion of the head. It 

 is ever on the alert, and stops from time to time to scan the surrounding ground, 

 rarely admitting of a close approach. These birds often fly in a very regular 

 manner to and from the caves where they roost, and good sport may be obtained 

 by waiting their return, or by visiting (usually in a boat) the cliffs they frequent. 

 It requires all a man's resource, as he rolls about in a dancing boat, to bring down 

 a Eock Dove going at full speed from the caves. The note of the Eock Dove 

 is a soft and full coo-roo-coo, variously modulated when the bird is under sexual 

 excitement. This note commences very early in spring, a week or so before the 

 actual nesting season, and is continued into the autumn. The food of this 

 species consists largely of grain ; but seeds of many kinds of weeds, the buds and 

 shoots of herbage, and the roots of the couch-grass are also eaten. The bird is 

 said also to eat great quantities of small land shells. It drinks freely and often, 

 and is fond of sea water. It has been said even to alight on the surface of a 

 river to drink, but I, for one, doubt the statement. 



Nidification. Like its two congeners the Eock Dove is an early breeder, 

 a few pairs commencing to lay in March, but nesting does not become general 

 before April and May. It is also wonderfully prolific, and goes on rearing brood 

 after brood until the following October. The nest is always placed on the rocks, 



