170 ROCK DOVE. 



six months every year, and fill their crops once a day, half 

 of them with barley, and the other half with oats, the number 

 of seeds picked up by them, would be two hundred and 

 twenty-nine million five hundred thousand grains of barley, 

 and four hundred and fifty million grains of oats a quantity 

 which would gladden many poor families in a season of 

 scarcity. I am unable to estimate the number of bushels, 

 and must leave that task to the curious. What is the 

 number of Pigeons, wild and tame, in Britain ; and how much 

 grain do they pick up from the fields and corn yards? It 

 is probable that were the seeds of the cereal plants, which 

 all the granivorous birds in the country devour annually, 

 accurately known, it would prove much higher than would 

 be imagined; yet by far the greater part of it would be of 

 no use to man, were all the birds destroyed, it being irre- 

 coverably dispersed over the fields.' Every morning they fly 

 off from their fastnesses, to levy contributions on the nearest 

 cultivated country, resorting to regular feeding places while 

 food is to be found in plenty; but when the contrary is the 

 case, they are compelled to seek for it in all directions. 



They drink often, and, as do the other Pigeons, by a 

 continued draught. The young ones are fed with food pre- 

 viously swallowed by the parents, and they receive it with a 

 fluttering of the wings and a low plaining note of hunger. 



The Rock Pigeon does not perch in trees, but in lieu 

 thereof takes its stand on some high spot, at the same time 

 secure and outlooking. 



The note is a 'coo-roo-coo' quickly repeated, the last 'coo' 

 prolonged. 



They build in companies, many often in the same cavern. 

 The nest is composed of sticks and dry stalks, and blades 

 of grass and other plants, laid together without much care. 

 The bed is fresh made, without much trouble for a new 

 brood as soon as the former has been sent at large. The 

 first eggs are laid about or towards the middle of April, and 

 the latest, the latter end of August; the young are seen 

 about the end of September. 



The egg-s are white, and two in number; while the hen is 

 sitting, the cock bird feeds her, and even at other times she 

 will often take a morsel from his mouth: at night he remains 

 close to the nest. The young birds are fledged in about three 

 weeks, and after a few days education by their parents, go 

 their ways to provide for themselves. 



