THE RING DOVE 



COLUMBA PALUMBUS 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties : " Ring Dow " 

 (Essex). 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : A universally distributed 

 and common resident in all woodland districts, its num- 

 bers largely increased in autumn by migrants from the 

 Continent. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'S : The Ring Dove is rapidly becoming one of the 

 most familiar birds in the central parts of the Metropolis, 

 and a convincing object-lesson of the tameness of wild 

 creatures when left unmolested by man. The increase 

 and dispersal of the Ring Dove in London during the 

 past twenty years is one of the most remarkable facts in 

 the ornithology of the Metropolis. Many years ago it 

 was known that a few pairs of this Dove nested in the 

 grounds of Buckingham Palace. It is apparently from 

 this centre that the bird has dispersed over London, and it 

 may at the present time be found nesting not only in all 

 the large urban parks, but in many of the squares and 

 open spaces right up almost to the walls of the Cathedral. 

 There were several pairs of Ring Doves nesting last spring 

 in Gray's Inn ; several more in New Court and other parts 

 of the Temple ; others in Lincoln's Inn, and a pair in 

 Upper Thames Street. From these central districts 

 the Ring Dove may be found nesting in many parts of 

 London even in the most busy thoroughfares. I have 

 seen nests on the Embankment, in Leicester Square, in the 

 plane-trees along the Euston Road (there is a nest just 

 outside Baker Street Station), near the Royal Oak, 

 Paddington, in the grounds of the Lock Hospital, in 

 Connaught and Berkeley Squares, as well as many other 

 places. The bird.is also common and widely dispersed over 

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