198 INCREASE OF WOODPIGEONS. [PART II. 
in other parts of England. That this should be 
the case is certainly not a little extraordinary, for, 
considering that the number of eggs in each nest 
is limited to two, and that these, from their colour, 
from the loose fabric of the nest, and the compa- 
ratively slight attempt to conceal it by the parent 
birds, are perhaps more easily discoverable by their 
biped enemies, winged and human, than those of 
any other bird; that the Woodpigeon itself is, 
from its fondness for ripe corn and green crops 
(particularly turnips) very obnoxious to the 
farmer, at whose hands it consequently meets with 
but little mercy; and finally that it is universally 
appreciated for the table; one might naturally at 
first sight suppose that there was no bird a 
gradual decrease in whose numbers might be pre- 
dicted with greater confidence. 
In the Isle of Wight (and perhaps the same 
observation may apply to other parts of the coun- 
try as well) I believe this singular increase in the 
number of Woodpigeons is mainly owing to the 
increase which has taken place of late years in the 
cultivation of the turnip-crop, the leaf of that 
plant during the winter, and indeed as long after 
it as any remain in the ground, constituting by 
far the principal part of their food. Although they: 
