TURTLE-DOVE. 
255 
dull ashy below ; bill brown ; feet red ; iris reddish-brown ; 
bare skin round the eye red. Total length, 1 1 inches ; 
culmen, 07 ; wing, 6'8 ; tail, yg ; tarsus, o-g. 
Adult Female. — Similar to the male, but with the plumage 
rather duller. Total length, 10-5 inches ; wing, 6-8. 
Young. — Browner than the adults, with broader and duller 
rufous edges to the scapulars and wing-coverts ; quills edged 
and tipped with rufous. There are no dark patches on the 
sides of the neck, and the throat and breast are dull pale ashy, 
with a wash of fulvous brown on the lower throat ; the flanks 
grey, and the rest of the lower parts white. 
Range in Great Britain. — A summer visitor, arriving in May 
or at the end of April. It breeds throughout England up to 
Yorkshire, but is rare to the northward, though it is believed 
to have bred in Durham, Northumberland, and Cumberland, 
and even in the south of Scotland. It has occurred in 
migration as far north as the Shetlands and the Faeroe Isles. 
As regards its occurrence in Ireland, Mr. R. J. Ussher 
writes ; — “ It is recorded as having once nested near Down- 
patrick, and once at Derraquin, Kerry (Thompson). A female, 
with eggs in its ovary, was once shot near Avoca in Wicklow 
(WalteVs), and recently Mr. E. Williams has obtained, near 
Dublin, some birds so young that they seemed to have been 
reared in the county. As it is often observed in spring, it 
probably breeds more frequently than is supposed.” 
Range outside the British Islands.— 'Fhe present species is a 
summer resident throughout the Western Palsearctic Region, 
and winters in Northern Africa as far south, at least, as Shoa. 
In Central Asia it extends to Yarkand, Afghanistan, and 
Baluchistan ; but Mr. Hartert considers the Eastern birds to 
belong to a distinct pale race which he has called I'urtur.:l- 
Habits. — Seebohm gives the following note : — The Turtle- 
Dove is very careful to conceal its nest, and breeds only in 
districts that afford it plenty of cover. It is very partial to 
dense game-coverts and plantations, and loves the more open 
districts, if the hedges are tall and thick. It also frequents 
parks and pleasure-grounds, and is commonly met with in 
close shrubberies. Soon after their arrival the woods and 
