198 BIRDS 



nesting site, but the Turtle Dove's homestead is 

 more frail than that of the Ring Dove, and is 

 placed in a low bush or tree. 



The Ring Dove is very partial to Spruce Fir 

 trees as a nesting station. Both birds lay only 

 two white egs, but those of the Turtle Dove are 

 more pinkish-white and are much smaller than 

 those of its larger relative. When the Ring Dove 

 rises from her nest she makes a fearful commotion 

 and rushes through the woodland helter-skelter, 

 flapping her wings as she goes and free-wheeling, 

 as it were, when she reaches open country. The 

 Turtle Dove, however, slips quietly and unob- 

 trusively off her nest and only flies a little distance 

 away, returning to her treasures soon afterwards. 



Such birds as House Sparrows, Robins, Black- 

 birds, Thrushes, and Starlings are, of course, well 

 known to all Londoners, and yet, after all, not so 

 well as one might imagine, for I recently had a 

 Starling sent to me by a resident of the Metropolis 

 with the comment : " Herewith a curious bird I 

 discovered in an empty house to-day. Is it a 

 Green Woodpecker ? " 



It is pleasant to hear the mellifluous note of the 

 sooty Blackbird in the London parks and open 

 spaces, and to observe the dark-speckled female 

 sitting upon her eggs in some laurel or other ever- 

 green shrub. The female is vastly different from 

 her sombre-clad mate. Seen at his best, a male 



