164 Order IX 



level, with moderate claws. The wings are long, but 

 rounded ; the tail is fairly long ; the crop is bigger 

 than in any other Order. The young are hatched 

 naked and helpless, but grow scattered hairs before the 

 feathers. The strong flight, so well instanced in 

 " homing " Pigeons, the reiterated cooing notes, the 

 frail nest of sticks, and the two white eggs are very 

 characteristic. 



Family COLUMBID-S!, or Pigeons and Doves 



A wide gap divides the Ducks from the Pigeons, 

 but the latter shew considerable affinity to the Sand- 

 grouse and so to the game-birds. We possess three 

 resident species of Pigeons and one that is truly migra- 

 tory, the Turtle-dove, which is much more common in 

 some summers than others. The Wood-pigeon, or Ring- 

 dove (Columba palumbus), is, however, not only resident 

 but partially migratory, and its two congeners are also 

 partial migrants, immense flocks arriving on our 

 eastern coasts in autumn and soon spreading over all 

 the country, where they do an immense amount of 

 damage to green crops, including turnip bulbs. They 

 appear to come to us chiefly from the direction of 

 Scandinavia, and it should be noted that this species 

 only ranges eastward from that country to about 

 Persia, though it breeds throughout Europe, in north 

 Africa, Madeira, and the Azores. It does not reach 

 Iceland, the Faeroes, or Shetland in summer. The 

 bird's strong rapid flight, its cooing note, its habit of 

 clapping the wings over the back when excited, and its 

 frail stick nest with two shining white eggs need no 

 comment, but it may not be so well known that the 

 food is of the most varied description, though always 



