248 



NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



doves, P. cinerea being grayish blue on the head, neck, and back, and ashy white 

 below. The tail is slightly rounded, with the lateral feathers black. It is found in 

 Cayenne, Brazil, and Peru, also in Central America. 



Turtur, to which we now come, is a rather extensive genus, containing something 

 like twenty-five or thirty species. They are scattered pretty generally over the Old 

 World, but the genus is not represented in the western hemisphere. The familiar 



FIG. 110. Turtur vulgaris, turtle-dove. 



turtle-dove, T. vulgaris, is a representative species of this genus. Inhabiting Europe 

 generally, it extends eastward into western Asia and southward into Africa. Timid 

 and retiring in disposition, it is universally accepted as the emblem of peace, and lives 

 in amity with all others of its race. While accustomed to frequent trees, it is also 

 at home upon the ground, where it walks with ease. It flies with great swiftness, and 

 turns and twists in its course with marvellous celerity, and pilots its way amid the 

 forest, even when at full speed, with extraordinary skill. When mated, the pair evince 



