256 THE BIRDS OF DEVON. 



shot on Elack Hill, near Woodbury, in 1878, and is now preserved in the 

 A. M. M. 



" Bhie Pigeons " frequent the chalk cliffs between the fishing-village of 

 Beer and Beer Head ; but Mr. Gatcombe, who visited the place on purpose 

 to try and identify the species, was unable to do so with certainty, 

 on account of their wildness. He, however, had not much doubt that the 

 birds he saw were either genuine Hock-Doves or " very wild tame 

 Pigeons " (J. G., in Hit to 11. P. X.). 



In flight the Bock-Dove is the swiftest of the family, strong on wing 

 as they all are, and it requires a good shot to account for one as it darts 

 out from a cave amongst the cliffs. 



All our domestic Pigeons, greatly as they differ in their varieties, are 

 descended from the Hock-Dove, and show their descent by their reluc- 

 tance to perch on trees. 



There used to be a few Bock-Doves on the Xorth Somerset coast. We 

 have seen them at Uphill, near "Weston-super-Mare ; also on Brean 

 Down ; and early one morning at the end of May, when we were watching 

 Burrow-Ducks on Sand Point, between Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon, 

 we came close on a Bock-Dove seated on her nest, and almost touched 

 the bird with our hand. 



Mr. Bodd states that there are a few at Looe and Polperro, on the 

 south coast of Cornwall, and there may be, perhaps, a pair or two on the 

 Dorset coast. 



Turtle Dove. Tiwtur communis, Selby. 



A summer migrant, visiting suitable localities throughout the county, 

 but it is usually far from numerous. Breeds. Arrives at the end of 

 April or early in May, and leaves in September. The Turtle Dove fre- 

 quents marsh-laiul in the estuary of the Exe in small parties in June 

 and July. Flocks of considerable size used to visit Dawlish Warren in 

 summer ; we saw a flock there of about forty on July 17th, ISo-l, and 

 shot one. This bird is also not uncommon near Exeter. It is rare near 

 Plymouth, but breeds in the woods at Kelly on the Tamar (J. G., Zool. 

 1877, p. 493 ; 1878, p. 433). From a young bird having been obtained 

 at Gnaton, in August 1850, Mr. B. A. Julian thought it occasionally bred 

 there (' Naturalist,' 1851, p. 88). It is, however, usually met with 

 solitary in the Plymouth district. South Hams, and in West Devon in 

 May and September, when migrating (J. G., Zool. 1875, p. 4509; J. B. 

 B., MS. Xotes ; T. J. Bray's 'Tamar and Tavy,' i. j). 351). Montagu 

 states that " it is found, though rarely, as far westward as Devonshire " 

 (Orn. Diet.). Dr. E. Moore says it was more numerous on the woody 

 borders of the moor (Mag. Xat. Hist. 1837). Every summer some breed 

 in the Kingsbridge district, and are freciuently met with either singly or 

 in pairs upon the roads (B. P. X.). " Breeds in Oxou Wood and Combe 

 Boyal"(E. A. S. E.). 



