THE DOVE AS AN EMBLEM. 



203 



And in her songs sends many a wistful vow 



For his return, that seems to linger late : 



So I alone, now left disconsolate. 



Mourn to myself the absence of my love. 



And wandering here and there, all desolate. 



Seek with my plaints to match that mournful dove." 



Tlie turtle-dove, which is but a summer visitor in Eng- 

 land, builds a slight nest in bush or tree, at a height of 

 eight or ten feet from the ground. Its voice is remarkable 

 as a deep, tender, and almost plaintive cooing. 





TURTLE-DOVES. 



All the doves are beautiful birds, with a " rainbow 

 shimmer" of colours about the head and neck, but dis- 

 tinguished rather by harmony and softness than by gor- 

 geousness of colouring. Their gentle shy manners, soft 

 notes, and bashful yet confiding looks, have made them in 

 all ages meet emblems of fidelity ; and still more, the dove 

 has been selected to shadow forth that Holy and Divine 

 Love which so far surpasses our human and transient 

 affections. The Holy Spirit, as we are told by the evan- 

 gelist, descended from heaven in the form of a dove ; and 

 it was a dove that brought back to Noah the olive-branch 

 which assured him that God's judgment was passing from 

 the earth. 



