Ring- Dove. 317 



staircase of species leading from the trees to the ground, some 

 being thoroughly arboreal, living and nesting on the trees, and 

 enjoying a rapidity of flight almost unsurpassed ; whilst others 

 at the opposite end of the list are as completely terrestrial ; with 

 wings as short and bodies as heavy and as incapable of pro- 

 tracted flight as our domestic poultry, and indeed distinguished 

 from the rest of their tribe by the appellation of Pigeon fowls. 



To return, however, to our Wiltshire species, all of which belong 

 to one genus, and partake of the same nature. We shall find 

 them gentle, timid, shy, of powerful wing, of slender bill, and 

 of short leg. They feed on the ground, and both sexes alter- 

 nately take part in incubating the two eggs which is the normal 

 complement of the nest. Their notes are singularly sad and 

 melancholy, and though they vary much in the different species, 

 all partake of this mournful plaintive character, which, however, 

 is by no means unpleasing, but, on the contrary, rather attractive, 

 soothing and pleasant. Their conjugal fidelity is proverbial, and 

 from the days of Noah they have been honoured as the har- 

 bingers of peace and love, both by Pagans of Home and Greece 

 as sacred to Yenus, and by Christians as emblematic of the Holy 

 Spirit. I am bound to add that at certain seasons they are 

 a destructive race of birds, making great havoc in the pea- 

 fields, and consuming an astonishing amount of grain ; but 

 while I concede thus much in regard to the injury they do to the 

 farmer, it must not be forgotten on the other hand the essential 

 service they render him, in the millions of seeds of a noxious 

 character which they consume. This family is remarkable for the 

 habit, in which all the members which compose it share, of being 

 among the first to retire to roost, and the last to leave their night- 

 quarters in the morning. 



120. RING DOVE (Columba palwmbus). 



First and foremost of its congeners, as the largest of the 

 European species, and commonly dispersed amongst us, wherever 

 trees afford it a shelter, the Wood-Pigeon claims our notice. In 

 some parts of England it is known as the Quest or Cushat Dove ; 



