•44 



cassell's book of birds. 



frequents in large numbers, only visiting such northern countries as Sweden and Non\'ay during the 

 warm seasons. It is particularly fond of fir plantations, and in these its tender, cooing note may be 

 heard during the entire spring and summer. In England these Pigeons resort to woods, coppices, 

 and enclosed ground ; and in winter assemble and roost in large parties on the summits of lofty trees, 

 the ash-tree affording them a very fli\'ourite gathering-place. Their food consists of young leaves and 

 seeds of various kinds, according to the season of the year. In spring and summer they subsist 

 principally on the tender leaves of growing plants, and often commit great ravages in fields of beans 



THE PARROT PIGEON (PhalacroUron Ahyssinica). 



and peas. Spring-sown corn is also attacked by them, both in the grain and the blade ; and as soon 

 as young turnips have put forth their second leaves, they, too, become objects of devastation. As the 

 season advances they visit the corn-fields, especially those in the neighbourhood of their native woods, 

 and seek for oily seeds of all kinds with great eagerness. At the approach of autumn they assemble 

 m small flocks, and resort to oak and beech trees, where acorns and beech-mast, swallowed whole, 

 afford them an abundant and nourishing diet. In winter these small flocks unite, and form larger 

 ones, so large, indeed, that it would appear probable that their numbers are considerably augmented 

 by arrivals from colder climates. Both parents assist in making their strange and carelessly con- 

 structed abode, which scarcely deserves to be called a nest, being nothing more than a mere platform 

 of twigs, so loosely put together that the brood is distinctly visible through the interstices. The fork 

 of a branch is usually selected as a resting-place for the nest. The eggs, two in number, are long, 



