The Rock Dove. 



445 



The green and purple reflections on her neck are less brilliant, 

 and more circumscribed ; in other respects they greatly resemble 

 each other. 



Song. — This bird coos, moves, and acts in all respects 

 like the common House, or Stock Dove, whose progenitor it is 

 said to be. 



Points to be Observed in Judging. — Select a well-developed, 

 shapely bird, sprightly in its actions, with a good sound, smooth, 

 tight-fitting plumage. The colour of the body feathers must be 

 clear, and free from tinge, with a decided shade of rich pale 

 blue ; the rump should be pure white, and well-defined ; the 

 neck and breast must be lustrous with green and purple re- 

 flections, and the wing bars clean, neatly formed, and quite 

 black ; the eyes should be bright, intelligent, and of a nice 

 pale orange hue ; the tail, wings, feet, and claws, must of 

 necessity be in good order, and the exhibit free from dirt, and 

 in good bodily condition. 



General Eemarks. — Dr. Bechstein, in his interesting work 

 on ''Chamber Birds," says: ''In Germany Eock Doves may 

 be noticed in open dovecots in the farmyards, in churches, 

 towers, old buildings, &c., while in England, Italy, and Eussia, 

 they are found wild in great numbers in holes of the rocks at the 

 seaside." The pigeons which have become domiciled on some 

 of the public buildings in Continental cities, as Saint Mark, 

 at Venice, and Pont Neuf, at Paris, and other places, are said 

 to be the original common Blue Eock Doves. In many parts 

 of England and Scotland birds strongly resembling this variety 

 may be found flying about old ruinous edifices in a semi-wild 

 state, but whether they have been in the first instance reclaimed 

 from the wild state, or bred between that variety and the 

 common domestic pigeon driven from its birthplace when 

 the family has outgrown the convenience provided, and forced 

 by compulsion to seek a place of refuge and a new home, 

 is a problem that has not yet been solved. 



Diseases and their Treatment. — See remarks under this 

 heading in Chapter LXXVIIL, on the Eing Dove (p. 434), as 

 these birds are subject to the same ailments, and require the 

 same treatment. 



