but at that period appears rather to court than to avoid 
the neighbourhood of human habitations, although, to 
use a common expression, its nest may be met with 
“everywhere.” I cannot remember any sort of tree 
common to Northamptonshire in which I have not 
found or seen nests of this Pigeon, and it frequently 
breeds im ivy and various evergreens that hardly atta 
to the dignity of trees. This bird is perhaps specially 
addicted to nesting in confers, especially spruce-firs, 
but even where there is an abundance of these, with 
convenient horizontal boughs as substantial support for 
the shght platforms of sticks that constitute the Pigeons’ 
nurseries, many other trees are often selected. Although 
I have met with this Pigeon in almost every part of 
Europe that I have visited, my remarks apply principally 
to the district of Northamptonshire with which I am 
best acquainted. A great many Wood-Pigeons breed 
with us, but in most years we are visited in the 
autumn by large flocks of “strangers,” smaller, darker 
in colour, and somewhat differing in their manner of 
flight from our home-bred birds. After clearing off all 
the fallen acorns and beech-mast that they can find, 
these visitors pass on to the southward, generally, if the 
weather is severe, taking with them the bulk of our 
native birds of their species. In such cases the said 
“natives ” reappear in small detachments as soon as the 
weather is open and mild, and [ think that all the 
survivors of this class are back with us by the beginning 
of March. ‘The strangers, however, as a rule, do not 
put in an appearance before April is well advanced, 
occasionally not until May, and rarely remain for more 
