322 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Ridley, was shot out of a flock at Prestwick-Car, 

 in Northumberland, in the month of September, 

 i 794 ; it agreed in every respect with the Common 

 Turtle, excepting the mark on each side of the 

 neck, which was wholly wanting : we suppose it to 

 have been a young bird. 



The note of the Turtle Dove is singularly tender 

 and plaintive : in addressing his mate, the male 

 makes use of a variety of winning attitudes, cooing 

 at the same time in the most gentle and soothing 

 accents ; on which account this bird has been 

 represented in all ages, as the most perfect emblem 

 of connubial attachment and constancy. It arrives 

 late in the spring, and departs about the latter end 

 of August : frequenting the thickest and most shel- 

 tered parts of the woods, where it builds on the 

 highest trees ; the female lays two eggs, and has 

 only one brood in this country, but in warmer 

 climates it is supposed to breed several times in 

 the year. Turtles are pretty common in Kent, 

 where they are sometimes seen in flocks of twenty 

 or more, frequenting the pea fields, and doing 

 much damage. Their stay with us seldom exceeds 

 four or five months, during which time they pair, 

 breed, and rear their young, which are strong 

 enough to join them in their retreat. 



