116 BRITISH BIRDS’ EGGS. 
Famity COLUMBIDA. 
RING DOVE. 
CoLuMBA PALUMBUS, Linn. 
Pl. XVIL, fig. 14. 
Geogr. distr.—Europe generally, excepting in the extreme north, 
not ranging far into Asia: common, widely distributed, and resident, 
in the British Isles. 
Food.—Clover, young turnip and cabbage leaves, peas, berries, 
acorns, mast and grain. 
Nest.—A platform of twigs, rather open in construction, or an old 
Crow, Jay, or Squirrel’s nest. 
Position of nest.—High up, as a rule, in trees near the edge of a 
wood, or in the middle of a forest or garden. 
Number of eggs.—Usually 2; occasionally 3. 
Time of nidification.—IV-VI. 
It is said that during severe and protracted frosts the 
Ring Dove will feed voraciously upon the tubers of the 
wood anemone. 
A nest which I took at Kemsley, in Kent, in 1885, is con- 
structed entirely of roots, some trees having recently been 
cut down and the roots left lying about. The nest was 
placed on a kind of platform in the branches of a weather- 
beaten old hawthorn, so gnarled and twisted that the 
boughs formed a series of steps up to the nest. It con- 
tained only one egg, slightly incubated. On the other 
hand, Mr. Janson discovered a nest high up in the ivy 
clinging to a tall straight tree much frequented by this 
bird, in which nest were three helpless young ones.* 
The Ring Dove differs from our other species by its 
superior size and white collar. 
In approaching a nest the position of which one is 
anxious to discover by the sudden flight of the bird from it, 
it is of some use to arrest its attention and partially allay 
its fear of intrusion by imitating its note. To some, how- 
ever, this is not easy of accomplishment, as the sound is 
produced by a combination of the sound ‘‘00” with a 
gargle, but probably many could, with practice, become 
perfect in it. 
* T consider this fact especially worthy of note, as it is constantly 
asserted that the Ring Dove never lays more than two eggs; I was 
present at the finding of the nest, and the three young ones were lifted 
up and shown to me. 
