132 
sufficiently large and plump to afford a good Sunday-dinner. They are then 
what epicures would call “ excellent eating,” but become very tough and tasteless 
after a few years have passed over their heads. 
Persons little conversant with the habits of birds would climb up to every nest 
they saw, in order to ascertain whether or not it contained eggs or young; bat if 
the slightest portion of the egg-shell is to be seen under the tree, neither will be 
found in the nest; should it, however, contain the latter, the droppings of the 
young birds are mostly to be seen, either outside the nest, or on the ground. 
After a few days, these become formed into a solid crust, which prevents the 
young from falling out, at the time when they begin to be restless. When we 
consider the flat formation of the nest, it becomes evident that without this “ won¬ 
derful provision of Nature,” the young birds would frequently be precipitated to 
the ground. 
The impossibility of taming this bird and of domesticating it, in the manner of 
the Rock Pigeon, has been often mentioned, but I should imagine this statement 
has either been copied from other authorities, or the experiment has not been pro¬ 
perly tried. Two years ago I reared a male Ring Pigeon from the time when it 
would have left the nest, always supplying it with green peas, beans, &c., until it 
was able to feed itself. When full grown, I turned it out and fed it with my other 
dovecot Pigeons,.with which it constantly remained several months, except on one 
occasion, when it flew off to a considerable distance, but returned, to my surprise 
after an absence of a few hours. It found some difficulty in keeping up, on the 
wing, with the tame Pigeons (several of which were tumblers), as wild Pigeons are 
not accustomed to turn rapidly and frequently in the air. This bird sickened and 
died after I had possessed it six months, and I have not since had an opportunity 
of renewing the experiment; but doubt not it would succeed with common care. 
The Ring Pigeon is an extremely handsome bird, the metallic hues of the 
head and neck contrasting finely with the white patches on either side of the neck. 
The feathers of the tail are considerably spread when the bird rises from the 
ground. The colours of the Ring Pigeon are so well known, that I shall not 
fatigue the readers of the Naturalist with a recital of them. 
THE SWIFTFOOT. 
Extract of a Letter from James Wilson, Woodville, Edinburgh, 
I have derived both pleasure and instruction from the perusal of the first 
number of The Naturalist , which contains some interesting facts accurately 
stated. From the favourable impression the work has produced upon me, I am 
