THE RING-DOVE. 367 
coloured,” is given to the bird on account of the peculiar hue of the throat 
The whole of the under surface is grey, and the tail-feathers are coloured 
with grey of several tones, the outside feathers having the basal portion ot 
the outer web white. The beak is deep orange, the eyes scarlet, and the 
legs and toes red. The total length is about fourteen inches, the female 
being a little smaller. 
THE bird which now comes before our notice is familiar to all residents in 
the country under the titles of RING-DOVE, WOOD PIGEON, WooD GUEST, 
and CUSHAT. 
This pretty dove is one of the commonest of our British birds, breeding in 
almost every little copse or tuft of trees, and inhabiting the forest grounds in 
great abundance. Towards and during the breeding season, its soft compla- 
cent cooing is heard in every direction, and with a very slight search its nest 
may be found. It is a strange nest, and hardly deserving that name, being 
nothing more than a mere platform of sticks resting upon the fork of a 
bough, and placed so loosely across each other that when the maternal bird 
is away the light may sometimes be seen through the interstices of the nest, 
and the outline of the eggs made out. Generally the Ring-dove chooses a rathe- 
lofty branch for its nesting- 
place, but it occasionally 
builds at a very low elevation. 
The eggs are never more 
than two in number, and per- 
fectly white, looking some- 
thing like hen’s eggs on a 
small scale, save that the ends 
are more equally rounded. 
The food of this Dove con- 
sists of grain and seeds of 
various kinds, together with the 
green blades of newly sprung 
corn and the leaves of turnips, 
clover, and other vegetables. 
Quiet and harmless as it may 
look, the Ring-dove is a won- 
derful gormandizer, and can 
consume great quantities of 
food. The crop is capacious to 
suit the appetite, and can con- 
tain a singular amount of solid 
food, as indeed seems to be the 
case with most of the Pigeon 
tribe, so that when the birds as- 
semble together in the avtumn. the flocks will do great damage to the farmer. 
The Ring-dove may be easily known by the peculiarity from which it 
derives its name, the feathers upon the side of the neck being tipped with 
white so as to form portions of rings set obliquely on the neck. ; 
THE many varieties of size, form, and colour which may be seen in the 
accompanying illustration afford an excellent example of the wonderful 
variations of which animals are susceptible under certain circumstances. 
Different as are the DOMESTIC PIGEONS, which are most ably figured on the 
-next page by a practical pigeon-fancier as well as an accomplished artist, 
they all are modifications of the common BLUE ROCK PIGEON, and, if 
permitted to mix freely with each other, display an inveterate tendency to 
return to the original form, with its simple plumage of black bars across the 
RING DOVE —(Columba palumbus.) 
