THE ROCK DOVE. 21 



They were for the most part highly polished, and did not exceed two-twelfths of an 

 inch in diameter. 



" The number of oat-seeds in the crop of the second amounted to 1,000 and 

 odds, and the barley-seeds in that of the other female were 510. Now, sup- 

 posing there may be five thousand wild pigeons in Shetland, or in Fetlar, which 

 feed on grain for sis months every year, and fill their crops once a day, half of 

 them with barley, and half with oats, the number of seeds picked up by them 

 would be 229,500,000 grains of barley, and 450,000,000 grains of oats ;— a 

 quantity which would gladden many poor families in a season of scarcity. I am 

 unable to estimate the number of bushels, and must leave the task to the curious. 

 What is the number of pigeons, wild and tame, in Britain ; and how much grain 

 do they pick from the fields and corn-yards ? It is probable that were the quantity 

 of seeds of the cereal plants, which all the granivorous birds in the country devour 

 annually, accurately known, it would prove much higher than could be imagined ; 

 yet by far the greater part could be of no use to man, were all the birds destroyed, 

 it being irrecoverably dispersed over the fields." 



Writing from Iona, Mr. Henry D. Graham states : — 



" The Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) is unknown upon our rocky woodless 

 shores, but its absence is compensated for by great numbers of a smaller species — 

 the Rock Dove. 



" The granite cliffs on the south of Mull, the basaltic crags of Staffa, and lofty 

 precipices of trap rock upon the adjacent islands, are all perforated by innumerable 

 caverns of every imaginable size and shape ; from the well-known majestic hall of 

 Fingal, resounding with the sullen booming of ever-rolling waves, down to the 

 little fairy grotto, whose cool white shell-sand is scarce dimpled by the sparkling 

 ripples of the sheltered sea. Some of these caves are grand, and of lofty dimen- 

 sions, with no floor but the deep blue water which heaves to and fro through their 

 huge frowning portals ; others are romantic and picturesque, their rocks covered 

 with many-coloured lichens, and their dark apertures fringed with shaggy heather 

 and ivy, amongst which is browsing a wild mountain goat, with huge horns and 

 beard. But many more of these caverns are horribly gloomy and forbidding — 

 deep black dens, extending far beyond the reach of the light of day, stretching 

 into the very bowels of the adamantine cliff : the air smells dank and foul, and 

 the walls are dripping with unwholesome slime. It is dangerous to explore them 

 further without striking a light, as you may meet deep holes and black pools 

 of water ; and it is not unlikely but you may see the twinkling eyes of an 

 otter peeping out through the gloom. These caves generally have legends 

 attached to them, such as of fugitive clansmen hiding from the pursuit of 

 the avenger of blood ; of wholesale deeds of murder, or of wild scenes of 

 diablerie ; and the names of the Cave of Death, the Pit of Slaughter, and 

 the Hobgoblin's Den, are often met with, and human bones actually are often 

 discovered in them. 



