TTJKTLB-DOTE.] 



SHOOTING, 



[tuetle-dove. 



THE PASSENGER PIGEON 

 Is about the size of the common pigeon, and 

 its bill is black. Eound the eyes there is a 

 crimson miirk ; and the head, throat, and upper 

 part of the body are ash- coloured. The sides 

 of the neck are of a glossy, variable purple. 

 The fore part of the neck and breast are 

 finaceous ; and the under parts are the same, 

 but paler. The tail is tolerably long. The 

 legs are red, and the claws black. The passen- 

 ger pigeons visit the different parts of North 

 America, in enormous flocks. We ourselves 

 have seen them there in countless thousands. 

 In the southern proviuees their numbers depend 

 greatly on tlie mildness or severity of the 

 season ; for, in very mild vreather, few or none 

 of them are to be seen. Actuated by necessity, 

 they change their situations in search of acorns, 

 mast, and berries, which the warmer provinces 

 yield in vast abundance. When they alight, 

 the ground is quickly cleared of all esculent 

 fruits, to the great injury of the hog, and 

 other mast-eating animals. After having de- 

 voured everything that has fallen on the sur- 

 face, they form themselves into a great per- 

 pendicular column, and fly round the boughs 

 of trees, from top to bottom, beating down the 

 acorns with their wings ; and then they alight, 

 in succession, on the earth, and again begin 

 to eat. 



THE TURTLE-DOVE. 



This is the Columia Tutur of Linngeus, and 

 is famed, from the earliest times, for its plain- 

 tive and tender note. The length of this bird 

 is nearly twelve inches. The bill is brown ; 

 the eyes yellow, and surrounded with a crim- 

 son circle ; whilst the top of the head is ash 

 colour, mixed with olive. On each side of the 

 neck there is a spot of black feathers, tipped 

 with white. The back is an ash colour, with 

 each feather fringed with a reddish brown ; and 

 the wing- coverts and scapulars are likewise of 

 a reddish hue, slightly spotted with black. The 

 quill-feathers are dusky, with pale edges. The 

 fore part of the neck and breast is of a liglit- 

 purplish red ; and the belly, thighs, and vent 

 are white. The two middle feathers of the tail 

 are brown ; the others dusky, and tipped with 

 white. The two outermost are also edged with 

 the same, and the legs are of a reddish hue. 

 59S 



In addressing his note, the male turtle-dove 

 makes use of a variety of winning attitudes, 

 cooing at the same time in the most gentle and 

 soothing strains. This has given rise to his 

 emblematical representation of connubial at- 

 tachment and happiness. These birds arrive 

 in this country late in the spring, and depart 

 about the latter end of August. They fre- 

 quent the thickest and best-sheltered localities 

 of woods dnd plantations, where they build 

 their nests on the highest parts of the loftiest 

 trees. The female lays two eggs, and, in our 

 island, has only one brood ; but in warmer cli- 

 mates she is supposed to breed several times 

 in the course of the year. Turtle-doves are 

 pretty common in Kent, where they are some- 

 times seen in flocks of from twenty to thirty, 

 frequenting the pea-fields, where, it is said, they 

 do great damage. Their stay seldom exceeds 

 four or five months, during which time they 

 pair, build their nests, and rear their young, 

 until they are strong enough to follow them in 

 their retreat. 



A variety of the common turtle has been de- 

 scribed by the name of the " spotted-necked 

 turtle-dove." The difference consists in the 

 whole side of the neck being black ; and instead 

 of those feathers being tipped with white, there 

 is a round spot of white on each, very near the 

 end. Dr. Latham says this bird was shot in 

 Buckinghamshire, and that he observed one of 

 these amongst some birds that came from the 

 last expedition to the South Seas ; but as it 

 was in a parcel wherein were some which be- 

 longed to the Cape of Good Hope, it is possible 

 that this single bird might come from that 

 place. The bastard produce of the common 

 turtle with the turtle of the aviary, has been 

 proved by frequent experiments to be barren, 

 although the two species whence it origi- 

 nates appear to be closely allied, and a mixed 

 breed is easily produced. 



Pigeon-shooting is, in this country, both a 

 sporting and a gambling amusement. We 

 have already observed that the varieties of the 

 pigeon family are very numerous, and natural- 

 ists and ornithological writers have differed 

 considerably on the subject of their classifica- 

 tion. Linuteus places them among sparrows, 

 upon the ground that both species pair in tho 

 season of love ; both work jointly in forming 

 the nest, and take their turns in sitting on 



