28 
HISTORY OF 
secondaries and greater wing coverts, which, however, when the 
wing is closed, look like a black bar. 
The crown, sides of the head, and throat, of the Wood Pigeon, 
are of a blueish grey; sides and back part of the neck, green, 
with purple and brassy inflections; lower parts, of a pale 
purplish grey, varying in intensity ; exterior webs of the second- 
aries, of a blueish grey ; the terminal half of the quills, blackish, 
shaded towards the base into greyish ; tip of tail feathers, black, 
gradually shaded towards the base into light grey, in our spe- 
cimens; (but this appears not to be a constant character, as 
some authors describe the tail as having a fainter bar immediately 
adjoining the black tip;) exterior tail feather, blueish black 
towards the apex, white towards the base ; bill, reddish orange ; 
feet and tarsi, dirty red. 
A specimen of this Pigeon, reared by hand from the nest, 
was kept for some time in a cage, by a friend of ours, having 
for its companion a Turtle Dove. It appeared to bear con- 
finement very well. 
Mr. Selby, in his treatise on the Pigeons, in “ The Naturalists 
Library,” says, that the Rock Pigeon never perches in trees ; 
but we have seen the offspring of that Pigeon, our common 
tame one, repeatedly do so, and in trees not having many 
branches. The place where we observed this to be the case, 
was in a dingle, which the Pigeons frequented for the purpose 
of obtaining salt from the veins of the red sandstone composing 
its sides : if slightly alarmed, when so employed, they would 
generally perch in ash trees, growing from the bottom of the 
dingle, with branches nearly on a level with the part of the rock 
where they were at work. 
Dr. Fleming, in his “ History of British Animals,” seems to 
