42 Forest Birds. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE WOODPIGEON OR RING- 

 DOVE. 



(Columba palumbus.} 



T ONDON is hardly the place in which we should 

 expect to find a shy and wary bird taking up 

 its abode. Nevertheless, the Woodpigeon, usually 

 so wild, has during the last few years come to 

 London in considerable numbers for the summer 

 months. We can only suppose that it has been 

 clever enough to find out that it is as safe in our 

 great metropolis as anywhere else, and indeed 

 perhaps more so. 



This bird breeds in several parts of London, and 

 notably in St. James's Park, while in the present 

 year (1894) there was a nest in a tree overhanging 

 the pavement in the great thoroughfare of Piccadilly. 



