3o6 THE WOOD PIGEON OR RING DOVE 



time together, always monotonous, but never wearisome. It Is 

 generally considered to be tinged with melancholy, and on this 

 account the bird itself is supposed to have been named the Queest 

 or Cushat 



Deep toned 

 The Cushat plains ; nor is her changeless plaint 

 Unmusical, when with the general quire 

 Of woodland harmony it softly blends. 



Grahame, 



Wordsworth celebrates it under a name generally given to the 

 next species : 



I heard a Stock Dove sing or say 

 His homely tale, this very day ; 

 His voice was buried among tarees. 

 Yet to be come at by the breeze. 

 It did not cease ; but cooed and cooed. 

 And somewhat pensively he wooed ; 

 He sang of love with quiet blending. 

 Slow to begin, and never ending ; 

 Of sorrows, faith, and inward glee ; 

 That was the song, the song for me. 



And again, stUl more happily : 



Over his own sweet voice the Stock Dove broods. 



The note may be imitated by attempting to whistle, in a very 

 deep tone, the syllables ' cooe-coo-roo-o-o-o ' ; or still more closely 

 by clasping the hands together, so as to form a hoUow, open only 

 between the second joints of the thumbs, and blowing the same 

 words over the orifice. With a little practice so close an imitation 

 may be produced, that a genuine cooer may be beguiled into giving 

 an answer. I may add, too, that with the same natural instru- 

 ment and with a greater expenditure of breath the hoot of the 

 Owl may be imitated ; with a gentler effort and a quiver of the 

 tongue the coo of the Turtle Dove may be nearly approached. 



The Wood Dove has never been considered to be the origin of 

 the domestic Pigeon, nor will it breed in captivity. There is no 

 difficulty, however, in rearing birds taken young from the nest ; 

 and birds so brought up will alight with perfect confidence on the 

 person of their foster nurse, and feed from his hand or mouth. 

 The nest of the Wood Dove is an unsubstantial structure, com- 

 posed of sticks so loosely put together that the eggs or young birds 

 are sometimes visible from below. It is placed in a fork or among 

 the branches of a tree ; a thick fir is preferred ; but nests are to be 

 met with in ivy and thorn bushes either in a wood, coppice, or, 

 more rarely, in a hedgerow. The number of eggs is always two. 

 The male bird assists in the office of incubation. 



