RING DOVE. 7 



joint to the end of the wing ten inches ; the second quill- 

 feather being the longest in the wing, from which the others 

 decrease gradually. 



The female is a little smaller than the male, and her 

 colours are somewhat duller. 



Young birds are fully fledged by the end of the third 

 week, and are then of a lead-grey, with a very conspicuous 

 wing-bar, on the upper parts ; the breast being vinous- 

 brown, with numerous yellowish filaments still adhering to 

 the tips of the feathers. The bill, which is tumid and quite 

 out of proportion to the size of the bird, is even more 

 flattened out, and more distinctly notched on the edges of 

 the under mandible, than in most domestic Pigeons. The 

 colour of both bill and feet at this time is a livid grey : 

 the former with a white tip crossed by a narrow black bar. 

 Before their first moult they have no white on the sides of 

 the neck, and the general colour of the plumage is less pure 

 and glossy, but they assume the adult plumage the first 

 year. Varieties more or less spotted over the body with 

 white, and even perfect albinos, are sometimes met with : a 

 remarkable example of the latter is in the collection of Mr. 

 John Marshall, of Belmont, Taunton. 



