9) 
that he met with immense flocks of this Dove in the 
neighbourhood of the Sierra Nevada, but I cannot recall 
an instance of having noticed it at more than the distance 
of a mile or two from the sea. In all the localities in 
which I have met with this species it is resident, and, so 
far as I have observed, it generally feeds within a short 
distance of its accustomed haunts. Although the Rock- 
Dove generally nests on the ledges of caves, I have found 
the eggs more than once laid upon the ground, with 
very scanty bedding, amongst large stones, and we found 
several nests amongst the extraordinary chaos of rocks 
that lie scattered in masses in the Straits of Bonifacio, 
in situations easily reached without leaving our boat. 
In one or two instances I found fragments of samphire, 
sorrel, and wild cabbage in the crops of this bird, but 
their usual food appears to consist mainly of the seeds 
of various weeds and, when they can get it, of corn. 
The only birds with which the Rock-Dove seems habi- 
tually to consort, when searching for food, are Starlings 
and Choughs. I never saw a Rock-Dove perch on tree 
or bush, in fact, in my experience it seldom frequents 
any but the most treeless districts. From the fact of 
having shot well-fledged young Rock-Doves in the 
beginning of May, and found incubated eggs in August, 
I presume that these birds breed several times in the 
year, as is the case with all the European species of the 
Pigeon-family. 
