" 



THE WOOD-PIGEON 515 



m doe* the stock-dove. As he does BO he say* " coo-oo-oo" the 

 last syllable being long drawn out, and having a very intense expres- 

 sion with a rise in the tone of it, .sometimes almost to the extent of 

 becoming a soft sin ill m I laving delivered himself of this long " coo- 



," he says several times together in an undertone, and very quickly, 

 coo, coo, coo coo," or " coo ooo, 000,000, coo, coo, coo," after which, rising, and 

 then bowing, again he recommences with long-drawn, impassioned 

 "roo-oo-oo," as before. Occasionally, when courting on the ground, 

 according to Mr. Selous, the low bow is prefaced by one or more 

 curious hope, a feature not remarked in any other of our native 

 pigeons. 



I also have had the good fortune to see something of this phase 

 of the wood-pigeon's life-history, and have remarked that just before 

 pairing they frequently feed one another, and immediately after each 



JI^UIIM-X ;i eurioii>l\ " \\oodrn" attitude, ivariti;: tin- bod\ upward*. 



and pressing the beak down upon the neck, which is thrust up as far 

 as it can be strained, and these grotesque movements are accompanied 

 by a strange raucous cry which refuses to be expressed in words. Of 

 the earlier bowing and cooing, with inflated crop and outspread tail, 

 which marks the beginning of courtship, there is no need to speak, 

 for with this phase every one is familiar. This performance is varied 

 by a very beautiful aerial display, the male launching himself into the 

 air, rising and falling on outstretched pinions, in great curves high 

 above the trees ; occasionally the wings are brought smartly together 

 over the back with a resounding snap. During such displays the 

 white bar across the wing is most conspicuous. Both birds, I remark 

 in my note-book, take part in the building of the nest; but the 

 pale alone appears to collect the sticks, which he brings to his mate. 

 A very few are taken from the ground, nearly all are broken off from 

 the tree. Suitable-looking twigs are seized by the beak and tugged 

 at. If dead they readily break and are borne away, but should any 

 drop they are not picked up. The growing nest which I kept under 

 observation was placed on a big bough, close to the trunk of a 

 VOL. ii. 3u 



