KOCK DOVE. 
151 
the crop of a Eock Dove shot in a stubble field, some consider- 
able time after the corn has been cleared, it is found to be 
filled with the seeds and roots of noxious weeds, with merely 
a few grains of oats or barley intermixed, quite overlooking 
the fact, that had the grain been abundant the weeds would 
have been despised, as indeed I have ascertained by experi- 
ment with these birds in confinement. During, say, ten 
months in the year, when corn is not to be procured, the Eock 
Dove subsists chiefly upon the roots of the couch grass [Tritimm 
repcns)y and the seeds of various troublesome weeds, such as 
Sinapis arvensis, Raphanus Raphanistrmn, Plantago maritima, 
and Capsella hursa-fastoris. There can be no doubt that it 
greatly prefers grain to all other food, and will consume it in 
enormous quantities ; therefore, if the farmer cannot convince 
himself that the evil is counterbalanced by the good, and finds 
his interests suffering, then by all means let him save his pocket 
by thinning the ranks, but also let him pause ere he attempt 
the dangerous experiment of total extermination. Some in- 
teresting remarks upon this species, as observed in Shetland 
by Mr Barclay, are published by Macgillivray in the first 
volume of his "‘British Birds” (p. 277). 
It appears to be but seldom that the Eock Doves build in 
the smaller crevices of the cliffs, their usual habit being to 
congregate in the larger caves, to which man can obtain access 
by water only. I have often landed in these caves, or “ pigeons’ 
coves,” as they are termed, but have seldom been able to get 
at the nests, though they must have been abundant upon 
every side. The few within my reach have nearly always been 
quite flat, and composed of grass, either dry or green, and 
sometimes in full flower; occasionally, it is said, a little 
heather is used. I have seen well-feathered young birds and 
fresh eggs upon the same ledge. The people believe that the 
Eock Dove breeds at all times of the year, and Mr Barclay 
thinks that “ some in the flock, if well fed, will breed at any 
season;” but it seems that this is not precisely the case, 
although there are good grounds for the supposition that, witli 
