The Stockdove. 
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bottom of the nest, are larger than those of the domestic 
Pigeon. 
Mr. Montague bred up a curious assemblage of birds, 
which lived together in perfect amity ; it consisted of a 
common pigeon, a ringdove, a white owl, and a sparrow- 
hawk ; the ringdove was master of the whole. 
THE STOCKDOVE. (Columba cenas.) 
" The Stockdove, recluse, with her mate, 
Conceals her fond bliss in the grove, 
And murmuring seems to repeat, 
That May id the mother of love." Cunningham. 
This bird is called the Stockdove, because it builds in 
the stocks of trees which have been headed down, and 
are become thick and bristly ; and not, as some have 
supposed, because it is the stock, or original, from which 
all the tame pigeons have sprung. Sometimes these 
birds lay their eggs in deserted rabbit-warrens, on the 
sod, without making any nest. 
The colour of the Stockdove is generally of a deep 
slate or lead tint, with rings of black about the feathers. 
While the beech woods were suffered to cover large 
tracts of ground, these birds used to haunt them in 
myriads, frequently extending above a mile in length, 
