TURTLE-DOVES. 377 



congregating every evening in countless myriads wherever there are trees enough 

 to form a suitable roosting-place. On bright warm days in August, the sweet and 

 sorrowful sob-like song of this dove, composed of five notes, is heard from every 

 g rO ve a pleasing, soft, murmuring sound, which causes one to experience, by 

 anticipation the languid summer feeling in his veins." 



Galapagos A peculiar genus, Nesopelia, is represented by a single species, 



pigeon. the Galapagos pigeon (N< galapagoensis), restricted to the islands 

 from which it takes its name. This bird has the bill long and bent down- 

 wards, and the tail rather short, rounded, and composed of twelve feathers, 

 white-winged Of the white-winged doves (Melopelia) two species are known, 



Doves. one f r om the south-western United States, Central America, and the 

 West Indies, and the other from Peru and Chili. They are distinguished from the 

 mourning-doves by the absence of black spots on the wings, while there is a white 

 patch on the upper wing-coverts. The northern species (M. leucoptera) has a note 

 bearing a close resemblance to the first efforts of a young cock attempting to crow, 

 and this call is frequently uttered and in various keys. In Arizona, towards the 

 end of summer, this bird, which is by no means shy, collects in small parties. 



The turtle-doves (Tiirturince), of which a species is figured in 

 the cut on p. 378, form the second subfamily of the ground-pigeons, and 

 include twenty-eight Old World species belonging to one genus (Turtur), which 

 may be divided into five subgenera. They differ from the mourning-doves in 

 having no black spot below the ear-coverts, and the neck ornamented with a more 

 or less distinct dark collar, or with dark scale-like patches on the sides. In the 

 first three subgenera (Turtur, Homopelia, and Streptopelia) the feathers of the 

 neck are normal, in the fourth (Spilopelia) those of the hind-neck, and in the fifth 

 (Stigmatopelia) those of the fore-neck, are forked at the extremity. The first two 

 may also be recognised by having two scale-like patches of dark feathers on the 

 sides of the neck, while Streptopelia has a complete black collar on the hind-neck. 

 The five typical species of Turtur have the w^ing-coverts mottled, with the centres 

 of the feathers darker than the edges. Of these, the turtle-dove (T. communis) is 

 widely distributed over Europe, extending as far east as Yarkand, and ranging 

 southward in winter to Africa, where it reaches at least as far south as Shoa. The 

 crown and hind-neck are bluish grey, with a black patch of white-margined 

 feathers on each side of the neck, the back is pale brown, the inner wing-coverts 

 cinnamon-brown with dark middles, and the outer grey w r ashed below with ashy, 

 the chin nearly white, and the throat and breast vinous shading into white on the 

 belly ; the quills and the two middle tail-feathers being brown, while the outer 

 pairs are greyish black broadly tipped with white. The male is rather larger than 

 the female, and has the plumage brighter and purer in colour. The turtle-dove, 

 which is a summer visitor to the British Isles, where it is one of the latest migrants, 

 not arriving till the end of April or the beginning of May and departing in 

 September, may be distinguished from the three pigeons found in those islands by 

 its smaller size. Shortly after its arrival it commences to build its nest, which is 

 loosely constructed of slender twigs and placed in a thick bush, tree, or dense 

 hedge at no great height from the ground. Two small creamy white eggs are laid, 

 and both parents take part in the incubation, which lasts about a fortnight, two 



