54 Forest Birds. 



a whirr out of the hole, and noisily beating its wings 

 together once or twice, was off down the ride like a 

 flash. Climbing up the tree, we found a large cavity, 

 in which was the Stock Dove's nest, composed of a 

 few sticks, upon which were placed two glossy white 



In wooded country the Stock Dove nests in the 

 holes of old or pollard trees, and has no preference 

 for a position high up or low down, for in some cases 

 we have seen its nests in holes five feet off the 

 ground, and in others as many as sixty feet up the 

 trunk. The same tree, however, is often resorted to 

 from year to year for nesting, and thus, if the hole 

 is very large, the nest is gradually increased in 

 thickness. 



One nest, which we particularly remember, was 

 built in a hollow beech tree, and consisted of a mass 

 of sticks some three or four feet deep no doubt the 

 accumulation of many years. Upon the top of this 

 great pile a Stock Dove was sitting, using a hole on 

 one side of the tree as an entrance to the nest; while 

 on the other side, and about a foot below, was another 

 hole, through which a tawny owl entered to its nest, 

 made in a cavity of the same mass of sticks. Taking 

 a stand at the base of the tree just beneath the owl, 

 and looking up through a crevice, the Stock Dove 

 could be seen on the nest above. This strange partner- 



