TURTLE DOVE. 523 



TURTLE DOVE (Columba turtur, Linn^us.) 



*Columba turtur, Linn. Syst. 1. p. 284. sp. 32.— Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 786. sp. 32 



Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. p. 605. sp. Al.—Raii, Syn. p. 61. A. 2.— Will.?. 134. t. 35. 

 Briss. 1. p. 92. 7 — Turtur auritus, Raii, Syn. p. 184. t. 26. — La Tourterelle. 



Buff. Ois. 2. p. 545. t. 25.— Ib. pi. Enl. 394 7mm. pig. et gall. 1. p. 305 



Ib. edit. fol. pi. 42 lb. Man.d'Orn. 2. p. 448 Turtel Taube, Bechst. Naturg. 



Deut. 3. p. 1076 Meyer, Tasschenb. Ueut. 1. p. 289.— Frisch, Vog. t. 140. 



— Tortel Duif, Sepp. Nederl. Vog. 1. t. p. 11. — Common Turtle, Br. Zool. No. 



103. t. 45.— Albin, 2. t. 47. and 48 Will. (Angl.) p. 183. t. 35.— Lath. Syn. 



4. p. 644. 40. var. A. B. C. D Ib. Supp. p. 199.—Haye's Br. Birds, t. 14.— 



Lewins Br. Birds, 4. t. 130 Pult. Cat. Dorset, p. 7 Wale. Syn. 2. t. 188 



Turtle Dove, Mont. Orn. Diet Bewick's Br. Birds, 1. p. t. 272.— Flem. Br. 



Anim. p. 47,—Selby, pi. 56. fig. 2. p. 294.* 



This elegant species weighs rather more than six ounces; length 

 twelve inches ; the bill is brown ; irides reddish yellow ; a bare space 

 beneath and behind the eyes of a purplish red; the top of the head 

 and upper part of the neck behind cinereous; on each side of the 

 neck is a patch of black feathers, tipped with white ; the back is brown, 

 dashed with ash-colour, lightest on the margin of each feather ; scapu- 

 lars and wing coverts black, deeply margined with ferruginous brown ; 

 quills dusky brown, with light edges ; the forehead and chin dull white ; 

 breast pale vinaceous ; belly and under tail coverts white ; the sides 

 above the thighs ash-colour; upper coverts of the tail dusky, edged 

 with brown, and dashed with ash-colour ; the tail is black, tipped with 

 white, except the two middle feathers, which are wholly of a dusky 

 brown ; the outer feather is much shorter than the rest, and white on 

 the exterior web ; legs purplish red. The female, in general, is not 

 quite so bright in colour, and is rather less than the male. 



The Turtle visits the southern parts of England in the spring, and 

 re-migrates the beginning of September. It chiefly inhabits thick 

 woods, where it makes a nest in a tree, composed of sticks or small 

 twigs. The eggs are two in number, and white. These birds seem to 

 be more plentiful in Kent than in any other county. Dr. Latham ob- 

 serves they are seen, in that district, to frequent the pea-fields in flocks 

 of twenty or more, as soon as the peas begin to ripen. We have also 

 seen small flocks, in the month of August, on Romney Marsh, which 

 were said to visit annually the same spot about that season. It is 

 found, though rarely, as far westward as Devonshire ; but, we believe, 

 not far northward. This species appears to be subject to some variety. 

 In the general Synopsis mention is made of four or five ; if so, it is 

 found in China, Manilla, Portugal, Java, and other parts. But some 

 of these are given as distinct species by other authors. Under the 

 craw of this bird are placed glands, secreting a lacteal fluid, probably 

 common to all this genus. 



