138 THE RING DOVE. 



gardens, where they do great damage to cabbages, broccoli, 

 Brussels sprouts, and the like. 1 



In May, when the tender foliage of the beech appears, 

 the woods at Paxton were a few years ago annually visited 

 by great numbers of Cushats, which fed on the newly- 

 developed leaves of this ornamental tree, so that, in addi- 

 tion to the damage done by the Cushat to the crops of the 

 farmer and the gardener, the forester has sometimes reason 

 to complain of its misdeeds. 



As a further instance of this it may be mentioned that 

 at a meeting of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, held at 

 Marchmont on the 27th of August 1879, Mr. Loney called 

 attention to the topmost shoots of many of the spruce and 

 silver firs there which had been broken by the weight of 

 Pigeons which had perched upon them, and it was found 

 that there were hundreds of trees in this condition. 2 



Although the Cushat, when its numbers become too 

 great, is exceedingly destructive to the crops of the farmer, 

 yet it does a certain amount of good by devouring the young 

 leaves, seed pods, and seeds of several noxious weeds in the 

 fields. Amongst these may be mentioned the wild mus- 

 tard (Sinapis arvensis), the mother of wheat or speedwell 

 (Veronica hedercefolia), the chickweed (Stellaria media), and 

 Cerastium viscosum. 3 



In autumn, after the corn is gathered into the stackyard, 

 it assembles in great flocks, and feeds on the scattered grain 

 left in the stubble fields. It is then very shy and wary. 



1 Mr. Hardy, writing on the 27th of January 1860, mentions that Cushats have 

 destroyed the broccoli in Dunglass garden. MS. Notes. Dr. Stuart, Chiruside, in 

 a paper on the effects of the winter of 1878-79, mentions, under date of the 16th 

 of March 1879, that " Wood Pigeons came into the gardens in the middle of the 

 village here, and, in front of the windows, ate the broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and 

 other greens which they could get near." Hist. Ber. Nat. Club, vol. ix. p. 134. 



2 Hist. Ber. Nat. Club, vol. ix. p. 48. 



3 Mr. Hardy, writing under date of 26th July 1839, says : " I examined the 

 crop of a young Cushat lying in Blackburnrig Wood, from which I had frightened 

 a Hawk. It was crammed with the calices and capsules of Cerastium viscosum." 

 MS. Notes. 



