36 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



delights in, and on salt-marshes it may fre- 

 quently be seen feeding. Here it devours 

 the lower forms of animal life, especially tiny 

 shelled-snails. It flies and feeds with the other 

 wild pigeons, though its food is far more various 

 than theirs ; it also eats the roots of couch- 

 grass, and the seeds of several troublesome 

 weeds. Its voice is different from that of the 

 other wild pigeons; and like the various do- 

 mestic breeds it has a decided aversion to settle 

 on trees. 



The delicate Turtle-dove is essentially a bird 

 of southern haunts, and only comes to Britain 

 as a summer migrant. In the woods of the 

 south it is not uncommon ; though, like the 

 Nightingale and some other birds, it seems 

 gradually to be extending its range. The 

 Turtle-dove arrives on our shores with the 

 wood-warblers about the beginning of May, 

 and if the weather is seasonable its soft notes 

 are soon heard in the copses. It delights in 

 open woods with sunny glades, and it is from 

 the darker-foliaged trees in such situations that 

 its subdued booing may first be heard. If the 

 birds be approached without alarming them, 

 the interesting evolutions in which they at this 



