The Turtle Love. 



335 



THE TUKTLE DOVE. (Columba turtur.) 



" Go, beautiful and gentle Dove, 

 And greet the morning ray ; 

 For lo ! the sun shines bright above, 

 And the rain is pass'd away." 



BOWLES. 



THIS Dove brings to the heart and mind the most 

 pleasing recollections ; its name is nearly synonymous 

 with faithfulness and unvariable affection. The male 

 or female is so much attached to its respective mate 

 that it is said, perhaps with more poetry than truth, 

 that if one die the other will never survive ; however, 

 the author of these observations was an eye-witness to 

 the death of a female Turtle Dove, who was unfortu- 

 nately killed by a spaniel, in the absence of the male ; 

 the disconsolate survivor, after having in vain searched 



