many noxious weeds in check. They may often be seen on the newly sown 

 fields picking up the grain, and in autumn they frequent the bean-fields and 

 long rows of peas. 



The note of the Stock Dove is harsh and discordant, not nearly so 

 pleasing to the ear as that of the Ring Dove, and consists of a single hoarse 

 1 coooo' repeated at intervals. They are much more silent than the Ring 

 Dove, and, unlike that bird, are seldom heard to utter a note at their roosting- 

 places. 



The Stock Dove is rather an early breeder, and varies the character of 

 its nesting-site according to the nature of the district. By the last week in 

 March they are mostly paired, and begin almost immediately to select a site for 

 their nest. In districts where there are hollow trees, the Stock Doves make 

 hardly any nests, the eggs being laid on the decaying wood ; many pairs will 

 often frequent the same tree, and they will often nest in the same tree as 

 Jackdaws. Some nests are lined with one or two twigs and bits of dead 

 wood, and I have seen them carefully lined with dead leaves, but as a rule 

 the only lining is the decaying wood itself. Where there are few hollow 

 trees, the Stock Dove will often rear its young in the deserted nest of a 

 Carrion Crow or Magpie, and I have seen its eggs on the bare platform of 

 a Ring Dove's nest. Sometimes the nest is placed in the thick ivy growing 

 over some old building or tree, and it has been known to nest in an old 

 'doocot.' In treeless districts the Stock Doves nest in the crevices of the 

 rocks, or utilise the rabbit-holes at the summit of the cliff; it also regularly 

 nests in rabbit-holes in sandy warrens, laying its eggs on a scanty nest of twigs, 

 and often on the bare sand. I have also seen its nest under a thick whin- 

 bush, below the roots of a tree, under an overhanging bank, and on the top 

 of a wall under the roof of an old sheep-shed. The nest is always very 

 scanty, usually composed of a few twigs, bits of dead bracken stalks, dry roots, 

 or heather stems. 



Two eggs are laid, which are pale creamy white in colour, making them 

 easily distinguishable from those of the Ring Dove or the Rock Dove. They 

 vary in length from 1-51 to 1*40 inch, and in breadth from i'2O to 1*15. 

 Both birds assist in the duties of incubation, which lasts about eighteen days, 

 the young remaining in the nest until well able to fly. Two, and even three, 

 broods are reared in the year, so that it is not uncommon to find fresh eggs 

 of this species as late as the end of September. 



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