It drinks frequently, like most of the Pigeons, and seems to be very partial 

 to brackish water, its fondness for salt no doubt accounting for its abundance 

 near the coast. In the early autumn, flocks of Turtle-Doves may be seen 

 haunting the stubbles, where they no doubt feed on the scattered grain and 

 shoots of clover. 



Almost immediately on its arrival the Turtle-Dove seeks out a site for 

 its nest, and begins the work of building. As a rule the nest is not very far 

 from the ground much lower down than that of its cousin the Ring-Dove 

 and is sometimes built in an evergreen bush, sometimes in a tall, thick hedge, 

 or on the flat branches of some spruce or Scotch fir. It is generally a flat, 

 slight structure, made of slender twigs, occasionally of rootlets and the dead 

 stalks of nettles and such like. Sometimes the nest is fairly bulky, and has 

 the appearance of having been added to for several seasons. In Suffolk I 

 observed many nests in the ivy which had overgrown most of the tall hedges ; 

 indeed, this seemed to be the favourite site for nests, and one could hardly 

 walk a hundred yards along any of these thick hedges without seeing at 

 least one Turtle-Dove sitting on her eggs. 



Both birds assist in the duties of incubation and in rearing the young, two 

 broods being frequently reared in the year. The eggs are laid during the latter 

 half of May, sometimes later ; they are two in number, of a beautiful creamy 

 white, having a delicate pinkish tinge when quite fresh, owing to the trans- 

 parency of the shell. They are oval in shape, both ends being usually almost 

 equally pointed, and vary in length from 1*24 to i'o8 inch, and in breadth 

 from '94 to '85 inch. 



The eggs of the Turtle-Dove cannot be readily confused with those of 

 any other British species of Pigeon owing to their small size. 



46 



