24 



lead-grey ; underparts bluish grey, except the upper breast, which is vinous red ; beak red at the base, 

 becoming yellow towards the tip, the soft portion on the base of the upper mandible greyish ; iris red ; 

 legs pinkish red. Total length about 13 inches, culmen 085, wing 8"45, tail 4 - 7, tarsus l'l. 



Adult Female (Sheringham) . Resembles the male, but is less in size, and a trifle duller in general colora- 

 tion of pulmage. Culmen 0"85 inch, wing 8'2, tail 4 - 6, tarsus l'l. 



Young (Belgium). Duller in colour than the adult ; the green on the neck is wanting, and the dark markings 

 on the secondaries and the coverts are scarcely noticeable. 



In Great Britain the distribution of this species is very different from that of the Bing-Dove, and 

 far less extensive. Mr. A. G. More writes (Ibis, 1865, p. 140) as follows : — " There is a peculiarity 

 in the distribution of this bird, since it seems to be absent during the breeding-season from several 

 of the south western counties, in which, and even in Dorsetshire, it appears chiefly as a winter 

 visitor. Still there is good authority for its breeding in Gloucester (Bev. F. J. Scott), Hereford, 

 Shropshire, and perhaps in North Wales (Eyton). The nest has been found both in East and 

 West Yorkshire, but hardly, I believe, beyond the 54th degree of latitude. The bird seems to 

 be most numerous in some of the midland and eastern counties of England, and has not been 

 observed in either Scotland or Ireland. Mr. J. F. Brockholes, who has taken especial pains to 

 identify the species, tells me that the Stock-Dove breeds regularly in Cheshire and South Lanca- 

 shire, where the nest is placed in fir trees and ivy. The Bev. O. Fickard-Cambridge describes 

 the bird as building in exactly the same kind of locality, among matted ivy, close to the trunks 

 of cedars and fir trees, more often in the holes of old trees where limbs have been broken off." 

 In Norfolk, Mr. Stevenson states (B. of Norf. i. p. 355), " although far less numerous, and more 

 locally distributed than the last species, the Stock-Dove is plentiful enough at certain times of 

 the year and in certain parts of the country, particularly the north-eastern and south-western 

 districts. In the latter (with the exception of about four months, from the middle of September 

 to the middle of January, or even later if the winter be much prolonged) it is found, if not in 

 great abundance when compared with other species, yet in sufficient numbers to be one of the 

 most characteristic birds of that open country. During the latter part of the autumn and 

 beginning of winter, though not perhaps absolutely wanting, yet it only occasionally appears, 

 and then generally flocked in company with Bing-Doves." In the north of England it becomes 

 rarer ; but Mr. A. W. Johnson informs me that it has lately been found breeding in North- 

 umberland, the bird having been shot off her eggs. In Scotland it is of rare, almost doubtful 

 occurrence. It is stated to have occurred in Caithness ; but Mr. Bobert Gray appears to doubt 

 the correctness of this statement, as he only includes it in the article on C. palumbus ; but he 

 adds that one was shot at Deerness, in Orkney, in October 1861. It has not been recorded 

 from Ireland, nor yet from Greenland, Iceland, or the Faeroes; but it is not uncommon in 

 Scandinavia, and Mr. Collett says that it breeds commonly in the south-eastern lowlands, 

 especially in Smaalehnene, on Modum, Bomerike, and in Hedemarken, and is in some localities 

 commoner than C. palumbus. In the western portions of Norway it is rarer, and only occa- 

 sionally seen at Stavanger and Bergen. North of the fells its occurrence is uncertain ; and 

 Sommerfelt observed a single specimen in October 1861. In Sweden, according to Sundevall, 



