ROCK DOVE. 169 
the whole flock going together. When startled, they rise 
suddenly, and by striking the ground with their wings, produce 
a crackling noise. When at full speed, they fly with great 
celerity, the air whistling against their pinions...... They usually 
alight abruptly when the place is open and clear, and, if very 
hungry, immediately commence their search, although, on 
alighting, they frequently stand and look around them for 
a few moments. On other occasions, however, they fly over 
the field in circles, descending gradually. When flying from 
the rocks to the places where they procure their food, and 
when returning in the evening, they do not mount high in » 
the air; and when passing over an eminence, they fly so low 
as almost to touch it. When the wind is very high, and their 
course is against it, they fly in the same manner, taking 
advantage of the shelter. 
It is a fine sight to see them from the top of some high 
cliff, scudding and shooting along below with the great 
velocity for which their flight is so remarkable, the wings 
rapidly beating the air. If however in no hurry, they fly 
more leisurely, and with slower strokes. In walking, or rather 
running, in the fields in feeding, they sometimes aid their 
advance by a flutter of the wings, and I have observed, in 
a flock of tame Pigeons feeding in a field, the hind ones, 
every few moments, flying over the rest, and taking their 
places in front, to have their turn of the best pickings, and 
this in constant succession, as if the whole of the flock 
admitted the right in each other, and claimed it individually 
for themselves. At times, especially in the spring, they may 
be seen circling in the air, sailing about before settling, with 
the wings closed: together over the back. They roost in their 
holes and caves, and occasionally, it is said, on the ground 
in open fields. They are fond of bathing, and also of rolling 
themselves in, and sprinkling themselves with dust. 
The food of the Rock Dove consists of grain and seeds, 
such as barley, peas, oats, charlock, and wild mustard, and 
they also feed, in default of these, on different species of snails ; 
a few fraoments of stone, or, where old buildings are inhabited, 
of mortar, are also swallowed. The quantity of grain con- 
sumed is very great; thus, in two specimens examined by 
Mr. Macgillivray, the number of seeds of grain found were, 
in one, over a thousand, and in the other, five hundred and 
ten. ‘Now supposing ‘there may be five thousand Wild 
Pigeons in Shetland or in Fetlar, which feed on grain for 
