THE TURTLE DOVE 



TURTUR AURHUS 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties : " Little Dove " 

 (Essex). 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : A somewhat local 

 summer visitor to all suitable places in England and 

 Wales ; rarer in Ireland, and of only accidental occurrence 

 in Scotland. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'S : The Turtle Dove is a regular summer visitor to all 

 parts of the Metropolitan area suited to its requirements. 

 It does not appear yet to have invaded, as a breeding 

 species, any of the urban parks and private grounds, yet 

 it occasionally visits some of them during the seasons 

 of migration. It is recorded as a visitor to such com- 

 paratively central localities as Wandsworth and Dulwich, 

 Highgate and Hampstead. Further afield in the more 

 rural suburbs it is found in summer at Wimbledon, is 

 fairly abundant at Richmond, Kew, Bushey, Hounslow, 

 Osterley, Sudbury, and Wembley. Thence I can trace 

 it through the Harrow, Pinner, Barnet, Hendon, Enfield, 

 and Waltham districts to Epping, and southwards to 

 Wanstead, Dagenham, and Rainham, across the river into 

 Kent, where Dartford, the Grays, and Farnborough, with 

 many intervening places, are summer haunts. It is also 

 found regularly in the Croydon area, as well as in those 

 of Banstead, Merton, Ewell, Epsom, Esher, Ditton, and 

 Kingston. Beyond our radius there are many haunts of the 

 Turtle Dove, especially in Surrey and in Bucks and Berks. 



The Turtle Dove sometimes reaches Greater London 

 by the end of April, but more generally the beginning of 

 May is the time of its arrival. There are many private 

 grounds and orchards in the suburbs to which this species 

 is a regular summer visitor, and the time may come 



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