286 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



sound living wood. The Wryneck ( Yunx Torquilla) is 

 not a common bird with us ; and, although its hawk- 

 like cry in spring is sure to betray its presence wherever 

 it may have established itself, it is difficult to obtain 

 a sight of the bird. It was heard, and its white eggs 

 were found two or three consecutive seasons, in Lady 

 Holt Park when the ant-hills were very numerous 

 there ; but, since the gradual destruction of the latter, 

 it appears to have betaken itself to " fresh fields and 

 pastures new." 



The Ring Dove or Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbiis\ 

 is generally distributed in the nesting season, places 

 its platform of loosely arranged scraps of wood among 

 the branches of high trees, sometimes as early as 

 February, and rears several broods in a season. In 

 the winter months it congregates in large flocks, and 

 frequents the park in astonishing numbers when the 

 beech mast is plentiful. 



The Stock Dove (Columba anas), which is not the 

 original of our domestic pigeon, as its trivial name 

 might be supposed to imply, is common enough in 

 the park, where it generally deposits its eggs in a 

 hole in an old tree, in a convenient space in a dense 

 mass of ivy, or in an old building, without a scrap of 

 anything to indicate even the commencement of a 

 nest. The gentle cooings of the pretty Turtle Dove 

 (Columba turtur} are heard in all our coverts through- 

 out the summer months, and several pairs of the bird 

 breed here. We have no recollection of ever having 

 met with its nest in high trees ; it is a somewhat neater 

 structure than that of the Ring Dove, and is usually 

 placed among the taller growths in the underwood, 

 sometimes in a bush not many feet from the ground. 

 Its eggs only differ from those of the other Columbidoe 

 in being smaller. 



Little need be said of the Pheasant (Phasianus 

 Colchicus), which, not being an indigenous bird, would 

 very probably soon disappear if quite left to its own 



