BIRDS 313 



Order GOLUMBjE. Fam. COLUMBIDJE. 



KING DOVE. 



Columba palumbus, L. 



The Wood Pigeon must always have been a common breeding 

 bird in the forests of Lakeland, as well as an abundant visitant 

 from Scandinavia at the fall of the year. In what way this 

 species may have been captured before powder and shot came 

 into general use is a matter for speculation : but there can be 

 no doubt that the Wood Pigeon has long formed an important 

 article of our food supply. The accounts of Lord William 

 Howard prove that it was regularly supplied to his table. 

 Sometimes the birds were entered as ' Stockdoves/ the title 

 under which, at the present time, they are commonly known in 

 North Lancashire, or, at any rate, in the neighbourhood of 

 Foulshaw. Once the species was described as the King Dove, 

 i.e. e iij ring dowes vi d .' Generally it was entered by the 

 common name of Cushat, the taste of the cook varying the 

 spelling from 'Cowshots' and 'Cowshootes' to 'Cowshettes' and 

 'Cushats.' Occasionally the birds are simply entered as 'Doves.' 

 All sportsmen know the pretty shooting which these birds 

 afford when flocking in to roost in their favourite fir-trees on a 

 winter's afternoon, frequently accompanied by a few of the blue 

 Stock Doves which have joined their ranks while feeding in the 

 open fields. Though shy and wary when persecuted, there can 

 be no doubt that this pigeon admits of a certain degree of 

 domestication if taken from the nest at an early age. In the 

 year 1842 there was living a tame Wood Pigeon which had 

 been kept as a pet for three-and-twenty years. Its owner was 

 Mr. Isaac Stubbs of the Dale, near Kirkoswald. The bird spent 

 most of its time indoors, having contracted a friendship with 

 the sheep-dog and the house cat. 1 



Instances of the Wood Pigeon nesting in highly accessible 

 situations are comparatively common, but that this species 

 should voluntarily nest upon the ground appears far from pro- 

 bable. A single instance of such a departure from its usual 

 habits is vouched for by a local newspaper, which states that in 

 1 Carlisle Patriot, August 19, 1842. 



