The Turtle Dove. | Loy 
are white; the two middle feathers of the tail brown, 
the rest are dusky tipped with white, the two outer 
ones: are edged with white as well as being tipped. 
Wieteeeare rec. Leneth, twelve inches, Hoos pure 
white. 
This bird has been represented in all ages as the 
emblem of matrimonial attachment : it is found in all 
southern countries of Europe, and arrives in England 
late in the spring. It visits our midland and southern 
counties more particularly than any cthers. This bird 
is the smallest of our British Dove tribe. The Turtle 
Dove so frequently seen in wicker cages is a native of 
India, and its proper name is Collared Turtle Dove 
(Columba risoria). Its plumage is cream-colour, with 
a crescent of black on its neck; this, however, has no 
claim to our British collection. Our species frequents 
the thickest and most sheltered parts of plantations, 
where it builds its nest in June, and lays, like other 
birds of its kind, only two eggs, which are deposited 
on a few sticks. The young do not have the black 
mark on the neck until the first moult. 
The Turtle Dove has been charged with taking to 
