How Animals Work. 



No ; we must dip a little deeper below the surface of 

 obvious facts if we are to find the true explanation. 



First, what of the habits of the nearest relations of 

 the Wood Pigeon and the Turtle Dove ? Well, now, 

 their nearest relations are the Stock Dove and the Rock 

 Dove, and both these birds breed in holes, and also 

 lay the orthodox pure white eggs typical of all such 

 nesting sites ; in fact, the Stock Dove takes its popular 

 name from the habit of nesting in some large, roomy 

 hole in a tree. Where suitable trees are scarce, the 

 Stock Dove will utilize a deserted rabbit hole, or even 

 lay its eggs beneath the shelter of a dense furze bush ; 

 while occasionally it is known to occupy a squirrel's 

 nest or " drey," or an old Magpie's nest. From these 

 facts it is not a difficult matter to arrive at a solution 

 of the problem. The ancestors of the Wood Pigeon 

 and the Turtle Dove were, like the Stock and Rock 

 Doves of to-day, birds that nested in holes and laid 

 white eggs, and that, scientifically speaking, at no very 

 distant date. For some reason, some thousands of years 

 back the Wood Pigeons and Turtle Doves gave up nest- 

 ing in holes and took to an arboreal life. The period of 

 time, though long from a purely human point of view, 

 has not been sufficient for these Pigeons to acquire the 

 skill in the construction of the nest, or the colouring of 

 the egg to render it less conspicuous, which is the 

 habit of all true nest-building birds, and therefore they 

 may be said to be in a state of transition ; their primitive 

 nests, though extremely poor cradles for an open situa- 

 tion in trees and tall bushes, would yet perfectly suffice 

 as a mere flooring or lining for a snug and well-pro- 

 tected hole, when the white eggs would be safely hidden 



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