STOCK DOVE. 
273 
RA SORES. 
C0LUMB1DAE. 
STOCK DOVE. 
COLUMBA (ENAS. 
PLATE LXVII. FIG. II. 
The Stock Dove, though rarely met with in the north 
of England, breeds in some of the southern counties: it is 
not uncommon in Epping Forest, where, under the kind 
guidance of Mr. H. Doubleday, I have taken its eggs 
from the pollard hornbeam-trees, in which it breeds. 
In Norfolk, Mr. Salmon says that the Stock Dove 
occupies the deserted rabbit burrows upon warrens, 
placing its eggs about a yard from the entrance of 
the hole, usualty upon the bare sand, but sometimes 
making use of a small quantity of dry roots, barely 
sufficient to keep the eggs from the ground, and that 
it also lays its eggs under those thick furze-bushes 
which are impervious to the rain: both very curious 
habitats for a bird like this. The Stock Dove breeds 
early in April, and, like the rest of the genus, lays 
its two white eggs, which, Mr. Wolley remarks, are 
more tinted with cream-colour than the other species. 
T 
