252 THE BIKDS OF DEVON. 



days, is drawn, and the intestines are replaced with the soft roes of two red 

 herrings. It is then larded, roasted, and served up on buttered toast ; 

 and it will be found that the contents of the inside are a very good 

 imitation of the delicate trail of the Woodcock. In the winter-time 

 large flocks of King-Doves resort to woods to roost, au ash or an oak 

 being their usual perch, and then is the time to lie in wait for them, and 

 to give them a volley when they are thick together on a convenient 

 branch. Or, good practice may be had by sheltering under some roughly 

 constructed ambush in a fir-wood, and shooting the birds as they drop iu 

 one by one just before dusk. It is astonishing how quick the eye of the 

 bird is in detecting the least sign of danger, and how marvellous the 

 power of wing which then enables it, in a second, to change the direction 

 of its flight, and to be off before the gunner can obtain a chance. liing- 

 Doves are easily tamed in confiuement and become amusing pets. Col. 

 Montagu has related how he once reared together a Common Pigeon, a 

 Iting-Dove, a White Owl, and a Sparrow-Hawk, and how the somewhat 

 incongruous companions lived together in great amity, the King-Dove 

 being the master. In general the King-Dove is a very cowardly bird 

 before any of the Falconida"*, the little Merlin, even, daring to fly at it, 

 but on the Dart Mr. G. F. Mathew once saw a Peregrine put to flight by 

 a pair of King-Doves. These birds appear to be somewhat liable to 

 diseases of the mandibles, which prevent their feeding and lead to their 

 dying of starvation ; we have several times taken up with the hand birds 

 with curiously malformed beaks almost in a dying state. In spite of the 

 mischief he does, we count the King-Dove among our favourites, never 

 molesting him when he nests near the house, as we love to hear his soft, 

 mournful notes descending on our ears from " immemorial elms ;'' and 

 like to see him strutting on the lawn in the early hours of a summer's 

 morning, although he pay visits to the flower-beds and display a taste for 

 the lupine-seeds. In the autumn, when out with the gun, we regard him 

 as fair game, and, in general, he is pretty well able to keep himself out of 

 harm's way. 



In the Teign Valley King-Doves have lately become so numerous as to 

 cause serious damage to the growing crops. The flocks which assemMe 

 in winter in the south of the county feed much upon beech-mast. In. 

 February we have found the crops of these Pigeons distended with 

 the leaves and tubers of the Pilewort Crowfoot {Eanunculus Jicaria). 

 Great numbers are shot during the winter months, regular hunts being 

 organized for their destruction in some localities, and a ready sale is 

 found for all that are killed, as their flesh is so much esteemed for the 

 table. 



Stock-Dove. Columha oenas, Linn. 



[Culver : Dcv.'] 



Kesident, and numerous at the landslip at Dowlands, near Axmoutb, 

 where it breeds (Henry Swaysland, Jur., v. v. lbS4). This species seems to 



