582 THE BLUE EOCK PIGEOK 



The bird which now comes before our notice is familiar to all residents in the country 

 under the titles of Eing-Dove, AVood-Pigeon, Wood-Guest, and Cushat. 



This pretty Dove is one of the commonest of our British birds, breeding in almost 

 every little copse or tuft of trees, and inhabiting the forest grounds in great abundance. 

 Towards, and during the breeding season, its soft complacent cooing — coo-goo-roo-o-o-o ! 

 coo-goo-roo-o-o-o ! — is heard in every direction, and with a very slight search its nest 

 may be found. It is a strange nest, and hardly deserving that name, being nothing 

 more than a mere platform of sticks resting upon the fork of a bough, and placed so 

 loosely across each other, that when the maternal bird is away, the light may sometimes 

 be seen through the interstices of the nest, and the outline of the eggs made out. 

 Generally the Eing-Dove chooses a rather lofty branch for its resting-place, but it 

 occasionally builds at a very low elevation. I have found the nest of this bird in a 

 hedge only a few feet from the ground, so low indeed, that I could look down upon the 

 eggs while standing by the hedge, and more like the work of the turtle-dove than of the 

 Eing-Dove. 



The eggs are never more than two in number, and perfectly white, looking something 

 like hen's eggs on a small scale, save that the ends are more equally rounded. The 

 young are plentifully fed from the crops of their parents, and soon become very fat. 

 Just before they are able to fly they are held in great estimation for the table, and in 

 some places ingenious boys are in the habit of going round to the Eing-Dove's nest while 

 the young are still in their infantile plumage, tying a piece of string to their legs, 

 passing it through the interstices of the nest, and fastening it to the branch. The 

 young birds are thereby prevented from escaping, and are srn^e to be at hand when 

 wanted. Even when adult, the Eing-Dove is a favourite article of food, and is shot by 

 hundreds when they flock together in the cold weather. They also exhibit a decided 

 partiality for certain roosting-places, and can be shot by waiting under the trees to which 

 they have taken a liking. 



The food of this Dove consists of grain and seeds of various kinds, together with the 

 green blades of newly sprung corn and the leaves of turnips, clover, and other vegetables. 

 Quiet and harmless as it may look, the Eing-Dove is a wonderfiil gormandizer, and 

 can consume, great quantities of food. The crop is capacious to suit the appetite, and 

 can contain a singular amount of solid food,, as indeed seems to be the case with most of 

 the Pigeon tribe, so that when the birds assemble together in the autumn, the flocks will 

 do great damage to the farmer. 



The Eing-Dove may be easily known by the peculiarity from which it derives its 

 name, the feathers upon the side of the neck being tipped with white so as to form 

 portions of rings set obliquely on the neck. The head, chin, and part of the neck 

 are blue-grey ; the remainder of the neck and the breast are purple-red, and the bare 

 skin about the base of the beak is nearly white. The upper parts of the body are also 

 blue-grey, but of a more slaty hue than the head and neck. The wings are also of the 

 same dark hue, the primary quill-feathers having black shafts and a narrow band of 

 white extending along the edges of their outer webs. The wing coverts are mostly blue- 

 grey, but some of the feathers are more or less white, so that when the bird spreads its 

 wings they form a very bold white patch, but when the wings are closed the white 

 feathers of the coverts only form a line along the top of the wing. The tail is marked 

 with several shades of grey, and the abdomen is soft pearly grey ; the beak is warm 

 orange, and the eyes topaz yellow. It is a larger bird than the preceding species, being 

 about seventeen inches in length. 



The many varieties of size, form, and colour which may be seen in the accompanying 

 illustration afford an excellent example of the wonderful variations of which animals are 

 susceptible under certain circumstances. Diflerent as are the Domestic Pigeons, some 

 of which are most ably figured on ths next page by a practical pigeon-fancier as well as 

 an accomplished artist, they all are modifications of the common Blue Eock Pigeon, 

 and if permitted to mix freely with each other, display an inveterate tendency to return 

 to the original form, with its simple plumage of black bars across the wing, just as the 

 finest breeds of lop-eared rabbits will now and then produce upright-eared young. 



