424 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



alike destructive to grain in the ear or germinating. The female 

 builds her nest in lofty trees, which is formed out of materials which 

 the male brings her, such as little dead branches detached from trees ; 

 for the boughs which strew the ground are never used. This birth- 

 place of the young is but a rude structure, scarcely large enough to 

 contain them, and sometimes falls to pieces before they are able to 

 fly ; in this case the brood retains, if possible, a position on the large 

 branches which supported their previous dwelling. Queests, as they 

 are frequently called, generally lay in March and August. Incubation 

 lasts twelve days, and the progeny can take flight about two weeks 

 afterwards. During the time of incubation and education of the 

 young the male remains near the female, constantly cooing,- as if to 

 break the monotony of her occupation. In the wild state Ring- 

 doves are shy and difficult of approach, but their characters become 

 modified by domestication, or even by an independent life passed in 

 the neighbourhood of man. Thus, taken before leaving the nest, 

 they familiarise themselves without difficulty, and do not appear to 

 regret having lost their liberty. They do not breed m this condition 

 — or at least we do not know how to make them do so ; it is said that 

 the ancients understood this art. 



Ring-doves are seen in Paris which have from time immemorial 

 chosen a domicile in the gardens of the Tuileries, Luxembourg, and 

 Champs Elysees. They are very tame, and come almost under the 

 feet of promenaders. Few inhabitants of the gay city have not seen 

 at the Tuileries the charming spectacle of an old man who attracts 

 round him numbers of wood-pigeons and sparrows, to which he 

 distributes crumbs of bread. The confidence they show to this kind 

 friend as an acknowledgment of his goodness is wonderful : they rest 

 upon his shoulders, take the bread from between his fingers, and 

 even from his mouth, and allow themselves to be caressed without 

 manifesting the least fear : this is evidence of the possibility of taming 

 Ring-pigeons. 



Stock-doves (Columba CEnas) have many traits of resemblance to 

 Ring-pigeons, but they are smaller, justifying the name of Little Queest 

 Avhich is sometimes given to them ; their habits are the same as those 

 of the preceding species, except that they build their nests in the 

 hollows of trees instead of upon the branches, as the former species 

 do. They are very plentiful in the South of Europe and in Africa. 

 They leave France regularly in the month of October. 



Rock-pigeons {Columba livia, Fig. 162) delight in stony and 

 arid places. They deposit their two eggs in the clefts of rocks or 

 in ruins. They are seldom seen in Europe in a state of complete 



