604 THE PIGEONS 



Welsh coast, the Isle of Man, and Cumberland, while on the west coast and islands 

 of Scotland, as well as on the Irish coast (especially on the western side), it is 

 extremely common. In some places domestic pigeons which have reverted to a 

 wild state have joined the colonies of wild birds. Besides the Orkneys and Shetlands, 

 it is also found on the Faroes, but is now apparently extinct in Scandinavia. It 

 is scarce in the Pyrenees, but occurs in S. Spain and Portugal, the Canaries, Azores, 

 Madeira, the Cape Verde Isles, while in the Mediterranean region it is found in the 

 Balearic Isles, Corsica, Sardinia, Italy, Sicily, Malta, the Balkan Peninsula and 

 the Greek islands, Crete, North-west Africa, Cyprus, and also in the Crimea and 

 Asia Minor, while allied forms occur in Senegal, North-east Africa and Arabia, 

 and Asia generally from S. Persia to China and Japan. Throughout its range this 

 species is resident. [F. c. R. J.] 



3. Migration. Resident and stationary : there is no evidence of the exist- 

 ence of any migratory habits in the species. [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. The usual site is on a ledge or in a crevice in a sea- 

 cave, and often several pairs may be found breeding within a short distance of 

 one another. In default of caves the rock-dove will nest in almost any deep crevice, 

 and in the Mediterranean region has been known to nest in ruins, and even in the 

 sides of deep wells ; but in the British Isles it does not breed in the neighbourhood 

 of human dwellings, and records from cliffs inland appear to refer to escaped 

 pigeons which have reverted to the primitive type. The actual nest is a flimsy 

 structure of grasses, twigs, roots, heather, or sometimes seaweed, and contains two 

 white eggs. (PI. 90.) Average size of 63 eggs, 1-54 x 1-15 in. [39'2 x 29'3 mm.]. The 

 breeding season is very prolonged, and several broods are reared. In the Shetlands, 

 Saxby states that it breeds practically all the year round, and that where there 

 is a sufficiency of food incubation is constantly in progress from the end of February 

 to the end of October. He also found an almost perfect egg in the ovary of a 

 hen on 21st January, but as a rule most eggs are found between April and August. 

 Incubation, as observed in confinement by Mr. J. L. Bonhote, lasts 19 days, and 

 Saxby notes that it is chiefly performed by the hen, who is fed on the nest by her 

 mate, and occasionally relieved by him for a short period. [F. c. R. J.] 



5. Food. Grain, seeds, and roots of noxious weeds, [w. P. P.] 



6. Song Period. The bird is most vociferous during the breeding season, 

 [w. P. P.] 



