C68 BRITISH BIRDS. 
at the end, the lower half of the two outermoll 
feathers is white ; the legs are red ; claws black. 
-—The Stock Dove, Rock Pigeon, and Wood Pi- 
geon, with fome fmall differences, may be inclu- 
ded under the fame denomination, and are proba- 
bly the origin of moll of thofe beautiful varieties 
which, in a ftate of domellication, are dependent 
upon man for food. 
Wild Pigeons are faid to migrate in large flocks 
into England, at the approach of winter, from the 
northern regions, and return in the fpring ; many 
of them, however, remain in this country, only 
changing their quarters for the purpofe of procu- 
ring their food : They build their nefts in the hol- 
lows of decayed trees, and commonly have two 
broods in the year. In a ffate of domellication 
their increafe is prodigious ; and though they ne- 
ver lay more than two eggs at a time, yet, allow- 
ing them to breed nine times in the year, the pro- 
duce of a Angle pair, at the expiration of four 
years, may amount to the enormous number of 
14,762.* The male and female perform the office 
<pf incubation by turns, and feed their young by 
calling up the provifions out of their ftomachs in- 
to the mouths of the young ones. To defcribe 
the numerous varieties of the domeftic Pigeon 
would exceed the limits of our work; we fhall 
therefore barely mention the names of the moll 
# Stillingfleet’s Tra&s. 
