TURTLE DOVE. 
523 
TURTLE DOVE (^Columha turtur^ Linnaeus.) 
*Columba turtur, Linn. Syst. 1. p. 284. sp. 32. — Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 786. sp. 32.— 
Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. p. 605. sp. 47. — Rail, Syn. p. 61. A. 2. — Will.^p^ 134. t. 35. 
Briss. 1. p. 92. 7 .- — Turtur auritus, Ruii, %n. p. 184. t. 26. — La Tourterelle. 
Bujf. Ois. 2. p. 545. t. 25. — Jft.pl. Enl. 394. — Temm. pig. et gall. 1. p. 305. — 
Jft. edit. fol. pi. 42. — Ib. Man. d’Orn. 2. p. 448. — Tuvlel Taube, Bechst. Naturg, 
Deut. 3. p. 1076. — Meyer, Tasschenb. Deut. 1. p. 289. — Frisch, Vbg. t. 140. 
— Tortel Duif, Sepp. Nederl. Vog. 1. t. p. 11 Common Turtle, Br. Zool. No. 
103. t. 45. — Atbin, 2. t. 47. and 48. — Will. (Angl.) p. 183. t. 35. — Lath. Syn. 
4. p. 644. 40. var. A. B. C. D Jft. 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. 
