BOCK DOVE. 169 



the whole flock going together. When startled, they rise 

 suddenly, and by striking the ground with their wings, produce 

 a crackling noise. When at full speed, they fly with great 



celerity, the air whistling against their pinions They usually 



alight abruptly when the place is open and clear, and, if very 

 hungry, immediately commence their search, although, on 

 alighting, they frequently stand and look around them for 

 a few moments. On other occasions, however, they fly over 

 the field in circles, descending gradually. When flying from 

 the rocks to the places where they procure their food, and 

 when returning in the evening, they do not mount high in 

 the air; and when passing over an eminence, they fly so low 

 as almost to touch it. When the wind is very high, and their 

 course is against it, they fly in the same manner, taking 

 advantage of the shelter. 



It is a fine sight to see them from the top of some high 

 cliff, scudding and shooting along below with the great 

 velocity for which their flight is so remarkable, the wings 

 rapidly beating the air. If however in no hurry, they fly 

 more leisurely, and with slower strokes. In walking, or rather 

 running, in the fields in feeding, they sometimes aid their 

 advance by a flutter of the wings, and I have observed, in 

 a flock of tame Pigeons feeding in a field, the hind ones, 

 every few moments, flying over the rest, and taking their 

 places in front, to have their turn of the best pickings, and 

 this in constant succession, as if the whole of the flock 

 admitted the right in each other, and claimed it individually 

 for themselves. At times, especially in the spring, they may 

 be seen circling in the air, sailing about before settling, with 

 the wings closed together over the back. They roost in their 

 holes and caves, and occasionally, it is said, on the ground 

 in open fields. They are fond of bathing, and also of rolling 

 themselves in, and sprinkling themselves with dusfc. 



The food of the Bock Dove consists of grain and seeds, 

 such as barley, peas, oats, charlock, and wild mustard, and 

 they also feed, in default of these, on different species of snails ; 

 a few fragments of stone, or, where old buildings are inhabited, 

 of mortar, are also swallowed. The quantity of grain con- 

 sumed is very great; thus, in two specimens examined by 

 Mr. Macgillivray, the number of seeds of grain found were, 

 in one, over a thousand, and in the other, five hundred and 

 ten. 'Now supposing there may be- five thousand Wild 

 Pigeons in Shetland or in Fetlar, which feed on grain for 



