8 
COLUMBIDiE. 
said to frequent the sea-shore in Sussex, &c., in great numbers, on 
account of its partiality to salt * 
A friend, who resides at Stramore House (co. Down), possesses 
a ring-dove, which was brought up from the nest by the person 
from whom he purchased it. He has many varieties of the tame 
pigeon, but this is more familiar, and a greater pet than any of 
them. When he enters the place in which they are all kept, this 
bird immediately flies to him, alighting on his shoulder or arm (if 
this be held out), and remains delighted in his company. t 
Though the ring-dove is prized in the north of Ireland, the young 
are not regularly sought after for the table, as they are in York- 
shire, according to Mr. Waterton. This gentleman in his Essays on 
Natural History, and Mr. Macgillivray in his British Birds, give full 
and interesting accounts of the species. I have observed it in the 
woods about Loch Euthven, and elsewhere in the north of Inver- 
ness-shire. About Islay House, in the island of that name, I 
saw, in January 1849, not less than a hundred together in a 
field of turnips, and .was told that they are always abundant there. 
Those that were shot in a wilder part of the island which I 
visited during that month, had their crops filled with the per- 
fect and full-sized nuts of the hazel, the predominant fruit- 
bearing plant of the covers. With reference to North Wales, 
we learn from Mr. Blackwall, that In seasons when acorns 
are unusually abundant, the oak woods in the valley of the Conway 
are resorted to by large flocks of ring-doves * evidently 
attracted to the locality by the plentiful supply of food to be 
* Knox, Birds of Sussex, p. 217. 
t The ring-dove has a had character in the south of Ireland, as well as in some other 
places. Mr. Joseph Poole, writing from the county of Wexford, remarks : — “ This 
bird, though generally arboreal, sometimes extends its flight far into the open country, 
where it does more injmy to the farmer than almost any other, and counterbalances it 
by hut a small j)ortion of good, at least so far as I have observed. Handfuls of oats 
may be taken out of its crop at times, and turnip tops, rape, or cabbage are aU put 
under contribution. During hard weather I have found the flowers of cruciform 
plants of the genus Bmssica in the crop of this bird, as weU as seeds and leaves of 
corn, roots of Fotentilla anserma, trefoil, &c. The favourite food at the end of 
December appears, from the examination of their crops, to consist chiefly of the 
roots of goosegrass, which from their richness and farinaceous qualities form an 
exceedingly nutritious article of food, and keep the birds in excellent condition. I have 
also observed it busy in gooseberry bushes during the fruit season, with the cuckoo 
probably at a little distance, but very differently engaged, being altogether attracted 
