38 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



in hot weather. Here it finds both food and 

 shelter, and to such spots small family parties 

 go before flocking in early autumn. Like most 

 birds, the Turtle-dove migrates in the night. 

 Although delicately formed, it is possessed of 

 considerable powers of flight, and is by no 

 means easy to shoot. In the woods it winds 

 its sinuous way through the branches in a 

 remarkably quick manner, though when clear 

 of cover it flies strongly and swiftly. 



Care ought to be exercised in sifting sup- 

 posed instances of the Turtle-dove's breeding in 

 Northern Britain. All through the country the 

 bird is commonly kept in confinement, and in 

 summer escaped birds sometimes manage to rear 

 their young in the open. A case came under my 

 notice where a pair of tame birds not only built, 

 but reared two broods in a shrubbery. Seeing 

 the success of this accidental experiment, six 

 additional pairs were allowed their liberty in 

 the following spring, each of which bred in the 

 evergreens of the garden and were fed daily 

 on the lawn. These birds, however, obtained 

 much natural food, and by autumn there was 

 quite a colony of them about the house. The 

 younger birds showed a wild disposition, though 



