40 COLUMBID.E. 



mast, and, we may add, all sorts of grain, grass seeds, peas, 

 beans, and wild hemes. This bird is also very fond of the 

 small grain-like roots of the Ranunculus ficaria, which is found 

 in great abundance in the ozier-grounds on the banks of the 

 Thames, where great numbers of these Pigeons are killed by 

 the fishermen and others. 



Many attempts have been made to domesticate the Wood 

 Pigeon, but usually without success. That they are, however, 

 capable of forming a personal attachment with man, we have 

 proved by the following facts. In the year 1836 we had a 

 pair of young Wood Pigeons brought to us, which we kept in 

 an aviary with many other birds : the male bird died at an 

 early age, but the female is, we believe, still (1846) alive. 

 In the spring of 1839 we presented this female Wood Pigeon, 

 with some other birds, to the Zoological Society in the Re- 

 gent's Park in London; and in the summer of 1841, when 

 visiting the gardens there, as soon as we came to the aviary 

 which contained the pigeons, our old acquaintance came to 

 the place where we were standing, and evidently seemed 

 pleased to see us. While in our own possession, the bird in 

 question used to perch on our head or shoulder to be caressed, 

 whenever we entered the aviary in our garden in which she 

 w T as kept. 



In confinement the Wood Pigeon will live very well on 

 tares, peas, barley, or wheat ; but, unless for the purpose 

 of making ornithological observations, it is scarcely worth 

 the trouble attending them to keep these birds caged. 

 The Wood Pigeon builds its nest in the top branch of some 

 lofty tree ; the flat forked surface of the branch of a fir or 

 pine affording a favourite support for the nest; and more than 

 one nest is frequently found in the same tree. The nest 

 is an irregular loose stack of twigs and small branches, verv 

 flat, scarcely round in form, and the materials so thinly placed, 



