119 



ing, where they can obtain it, a hole in the stock of an old tree ; from which circum- 

 stance, it is supposed, they receive the name of Stock Dove, and not, as some persons 

 think, because they are the originals of our domestic Pigeons, which is an error. 



285. Their colour is a dull blue, with two dull black marks on the wings ; the 

 pinion feathers are also dull black, and the tail is barred with black near the extremity ; 

 the bill is dark in the younaf birds, but becomes whitish when they reach maturity ; 

 the covering of the nootrils is then pink inclining to a dark red ; the iris of the eye is a 

 dark brown, and the gloss on the neck is confined to a spot on each side. They are 

 swift of flight and strong on the wing, and rather difficult to hold. They are a 

 rather local bird, but very plentiful in this neighbourhood (Sevenoaks), I miss them 

 in Autumn, but am not certain if their migration is total or only partial ; they are 

 often called Blue Rooks, though quite distinct from them. 



286. They are easily tamed if taken young, but like the Ring Dove cannot be 

 domesticated ; when let out they fly ofl" to the woods, only returning home for food, 

 and their returns become less frequent till they learn to cater for themselves, when they 

 return no more. I have tried to keep them several times at liberty ; I succeeded with 

 one for some time in Germany, but unfortunately it died, and once since I had one 

 brought up by hand with a young Dragoon, that stayed some months, but left in the 

 Autumn. 



287. I find they pair easily with the tame Pigeons, if brought up young together, 

 and that the union is to some extent fruitful ; but, in nearly all cases the young ones 

 die at about 10 days or a fortnight old, so that from many pairs of these hybrid young 

 ones that I have had hatched, only two could I raise to maturity — the first a cock, 

 bred from a cock Stock Dove and a hen Blue Dragoon, which was shot, I believe ; the 

 other a hen from a cock Blue Antwerp Carrier and a hen Stock Dove ; she was a sharp 

 flyer, coming home quicker than my Dz-agoons ; I paired her vdth a young 

 cock Dragoon, but she did not breed, nor do I think she would if I had been able to 

 keep her longer ; she partook much of the wild habits of her race, being constantly in 

 the trees, whither she often decoyed her mate, and fearing they would be shot, I con- 

 fined them in a spare Pigeon-loft, where I soon afterwards found her dead — but have 

 her remains stuffed. 



288. The play of both the Ring and Stock Doves is very peculiar ; when courting 

 the hen, they bow the head down, with a deep hollow " coo-o-ho," at the same time 

 spreading and throwing up the tail. Had I ever been inclined to suppose the Wood 

 Pigeons to be the parent stock of the tame Pigeons, my experience of them convinces 

 me to the contrary. 



THE TURTLE DOVE. 



289. This is the smallest of our native Doves. They are arboreal in their habits, 

 building lower than the two foregoing varieties, frequently in a small fir-tree or thick 

 bush ; their nest is composed of twigs and roots, and they lay two smaU white eggs. 

 Their prevailing colour is a difll brown, the wings being of a reddish brown dappled 

 with black, the pinion feathers are dull black ; the tail is long in proportion to their 

 size, the two centre feathers are brown, the rest dull black tipped with about an inch 

 of white, the two exterior ones having the outer w^eb also white, which gives them a 

 pretty ring-tailed appearance when flying ; the under parts of the body are much lighter, 

 and on each side of the neck is a chequered patch of black, white, and gray. The iris 

 of the eye is deep red ; the bill is long and dull black ; the feet are dull red. 



290. They will breed in confinement occasionally ; and I have been informed they can 

 be partially domesticated, so as to be trusted with their liberty, of which fact I am 

 not able to speak positively, though one of mine having escaped two or three times, 

 each time remained about the premises, till hunger prompted her to come to me for 

 food, when I was enabled to re-capture her. In their wild state they are migratory, 

 coming over in the spring, and leaving again in autumn ; and I have noticed that my 

 young birds have been very restless in their cages at the time of the autumn migration. 

 The young ones are duller coloured than the adults, and do not have the cheque on the 

 side of the neck till the first moult. I once had a hybrid, between thi , sort and the 

 tame Dove, Collared Turtle, or Laughing Dove, which was bred in an 9 tdary, but was 

 so exceedingly wild that I could do nothing with it, and it at last madf its escape. 



