DO VES 



89 



Turtle Dove. 



breeds as far north as Christiania and the Gulf of Finland, and ranges as far 

 east as Afghanistan and Lob Nor, though it is in the main confined to Europe. 



Unlike other doves, the turtle-dove has no shiny feathers on 

 its wings, and may generally be recognised by the presence of a 

 more or less dark collar on the neck, or a chequered patch on each side. This 

 patch is particularly noticeable in the common turtle-dove (Turtur communis), 

 which frequents pine- woods, interspersed with deciduous trees, as well as planta- 

 tions and clumps of high trees close to running water. It also lives in oak, beech, 



J 



A PAIR OF TURTLE-DOVES. 



and birch forests, especially those with a good many pines in them, and but 

 rarely resorts to woods of purely deciduous trees. The nest is built in dense 

 underwood, such as a thick, high hedge : it is seldom, under any circumstances, over 

 20 feet from the ground, and is generally near water, not onlj r fresh but brackish. 

 So lightly is it built of slender twigs, that, from below, the eggs and even the sitting 

 dove may easily be seen, her position being often indicated by the cooing of the 

 male and the sound of his wings ; his habit being to fly in a circle over his mate, 

 clapping his wings together above his back, and dropping down with uplifted 

 wings to perch close by her. There are two eggs at a time and two broods, the first 



