162 BIRD-LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



tinue to come in until their forms can scarcely be 

 distinguished against the sky. They are wary 

 and watchful in the extreme, and have astonishing 

 command over themselves during rapid flight, 

 swerving with great adroitness, should they catch 

 a glimpse of us in our ambush beneath the trees. 

 This Dove is most prolific, beginning to breed in 

 March and continuing to do so until the following 

 September. In some parts of the South Hams 

 district of Devonshire annual shoots or battues of 

 this Pigeon are held. The guns in some cases are 

 stationed over an area of six or eight miles of 

 country, and the birds are thus practically kept 

 on the move all day. Upon the approach of dusk 

 great slaughter takes place as the Pigeons seek 

 their accustomed roosts. In this way the numbers 

 of Ring Doves are kept within reasonable limits. 

 Many Ring Doves breed within a stone's-throw of 

 the sea, sometimes in stunted bushes and dense 

 scrub at the summit of the cliffs, but the latter 

 are the favourite resorts of the Stock Dove, of 

 which we shall have more to say in a later chapter. 

 We may however remark, in passing, that this 

 Dove is not found in woods in this part of 

 the country to anything like the extent that 



