THE RING-DOVE. 



229 



trifling wager, sent a Carrier Pigeon from London, by the coach, to a 



friend at Bury St. Edmund's; and along with 



it a note, desiring that the Pigeon, two days 



after its arrival there, might be thrown up 



precisely when the town clock struck nine in 



Jhe morning. This was accordingly done; 



and the Pigeon arrived in London, and flew 



into the Bull-inn, in Bishopsgate-street, at 



half-past eleven o'clock of the same morning, 



having flown seventy-two miles in two hours 



and a half. 



The Carrier Pigeon is easily distinguished 

 from the other varieties, by a broad circle of 

 naked white skin round the eyes, and by its 

 dark blue 01 blackish color. 



THE RING-DOVE. 



The Ring-dove is the largest Pigeon which is found in England, 

 and may at once be distinguish- 

 ed from all others by its size. 

 Its weight is about twenty 

 ounces; its length eighteen 

 inches, and its breadth about 

 thirty. The head, back, and 

 coverts of the wings are of a 

 bluish ash-color. The lower 

 side of the neck and breast is 

 of a purplish red, dashed with 

 ash-color. On the hind part of 

 the neck there is a semi-cir- 

 cular line of white ; above and 

 beneath that the feathers are 

 glossy, and of changeable colors 

 when opposed to the light. 

 The belly is of a dirty white. 



The greater quill-feathers are Iff/ HIS&SIIEU^^'' 



dusky; the rest ash-colored. 

 Underneath the bastard-wing 

 there is a white stroke pointing 

 downward. 



These Pigeons build their nests on the branches of trees, and get* 

 erally prefer those of the pine. The nest is large and open, formed 

 principally of dried sticks ; and the eggs, which may frequently be 

 seen through the bottom of the nest, are larger than those of the 

 Domestic Pigeon. 



The food of this, as well as of the other species, is principally 

 grain ; but a neighbor of the Rev. Mr. White, of Selborne, shot a 

 Ring-dove, as it was going to roost ; and when his wife had picked 



