British Birds in Their Haunts

by C. A. Johns

The note may be imitated by attempting to whistle, in a very deep tone, the syllables 'cooe-coo-roo-o-o-o'; or still more closely by clasping the hands together, so as to form a hollow, open only between the second joints of the thumbs, and blowing the same words over the orifice. With a little practise so close an imitation may be produced, that a genuine cooer may be beguiled into giving an answer. I may add, too, that with the same natural instrument and with a greater expenditure of breath the hoot of the Owl may be imitated; with a gentler effort and a quiver of the tongue the coo of the Turtle Dove may be nearly approached.

The Wood Dove has never been considered to be the origin of the domestic Pigeon, nor will it breed in captivity. There is no difficulty, however, in rearing birds taken young from the nest; and birds so brought up will alight with perfect confidence on the person of their foster nurse, and feed from his hand or mouth. The nest of the Wood Dove is an unsubstantial structure, composed of sticks so loosely put together that the eggs or young birds are sometimes visible from below. It is placed in a fork or among the branches of a tree; a thick fir is preferred; but nests are to be met with in ivy and thorn bushes either in a wood, coppice, or, more rarely, in a hedge-row. The number of eggs is always two. The male bird assists in the office of incubation.

THE STOCK DOVE
COLUMBA ŒNAS

Head, throat, wings, and lower parts, bluish grey; the lower parts of the neck with metallic reflections, no white spots; breast wine-red; a black spot on the two last secondaries and some of the wing-coverts; primaries grey at the base, passing into dusky; tail grey barred with black at the extremity, the outer feather with a white spot on the outer web near the base; irides reddish brown; bill yellow, red at the base; feet red; claws dusky. Length twelve and a half inches. Eggs white.

The Stock Dove is by some persons supposed to be so called from its having been believed at one time to be the origin of the domestic Pigeon; but as it bore the name before the above question was mooted, it is more reasonable to suppose that it derived its name from its habit of nestling in the stocks of trees, and not on the branches like the Ring Dove, nor in caves like the Rock Dove. Ray and Willughby, who treat the domestic Dove as a distinct species, gave it the name of Œnas (from the Greek oinos, wine), and Vinago (from the Latin vinum), from the purpled or wine-red hue of its breast and wings. Temminck does not hesitate to identify the domestic Pigeon with the Rock Dove, without even hinting the possibility of its having derived its origin from the Stock Dove. Since, therefore, the two birds have no marked resemblance, it may be reasonably supposed that the relationship between them rests solely on the narrow foundation that there exists a wild Pigeon, popularly called a Stock Dove, and that the word 'stock' has among other meanings that of 'parentage' or 'origin'. Thus the name gave rise to a theory which, having a plausible show, was hastily assumed, and was then employed to prove a fact which will not bear the test of examination. The Stock Dove in its habits closely resembles the Ring Dove, from which it cannot easily be distinguished at a distance. When tolerably near, a sharp eye can detect the absence of the white patch on the wings and of the ring round the neck. Its flight is more rapid, and it rarely perches on a slender bough, preferring to alight on a main branch or stump. Its note is softer, and approaches that of the tame Pigeon. But the great mark of distinction is that on which I have supposed its name to be founded; that it does not build its nest among the branches of trees, but in the side of a stump, or other locality, where no one would even think of looking for a Ring Dove's nest. Yarrell states that 'in the open counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, this species frequently makes its nest in holes in the ground, generally selecting a rabbit's burrow'. It has greatly increased in the south of England of late, and it nests along the Moray and Dornock Firths. White, who had never seen its nest, says that it used to be abundant at Selborne 'from November to February'. Yarrell saw two old birds exposed for sale with Ring Doves, in London, on January 4. It resorts in spring to the neighbourhood in which it was bred, as a convenient place for rearing its own young, and at the end of summer repairs to woods and groves better adapted for supplying it with its favourite food, acorns and beech-mast. There it flocks together with Ring Doves, vast numbers of which assemble in winter in some districts, and when the fowler plies his occupation, shares their fate. It is, however, by no means so common a bird as the Ring Dove at any season, nor is it so generally distributed. In the North it is certainly only a summer visitor; and, on the other hand, it is most abundant in the south of Europe and in Africa during winter.

THE ROCK DOVE
COLUMBA LIVIA

Plumage bluish ash, lighter on the wings; rump white; neck and breast lustrous with green and purple reflections, without a white spot; two transverse black bands on the wings; primaries and tail tipped with black; rump white; outer tail-feather white on the outer web; irides pale orange; bill black; feet red. Length twelve and a half inches. Eggs white.

The Rock Dove, though a bird of extensive range, is less generally known in its natural condition than either of the other British species. As its name imports, its favourite place of resort is the rocky coast; but this it frequents, not because it has any predilection for the sea-shore and its productions, but that its instincts teach it to make lofty rocks its stronghold, just as the natural impulse of the Ring Dove is to find safety in the forests. If this species is the original of all the numerous varieties of tame Pigeon, it must inhabit most countries of the eastern hemisphere; for a pigeon-fancier's dove-cot, to be complete, must contain several sorts which were first brought from remote regions; and we know that in Egypt, Phœnicia, and Persia, Pigeons had a mythological importance at an early date. It is said that the Pigeons which have established themselves in various public buildings of continental cities, as Saint Mark at Venice, and Pont Neuf at Paris, are exclusively Rock Pigeons; and I have seen it stated that they frequent the towers of Canterbury Cathedral; but it is possible that these may be in all cases derived from tame birds escaped from domestication, and resuming, to a certain extent, their wild habits and original plumage. That they resort to ruinous edifices near the sea in retired districts is beyond question, as I have seen them flying about and alighting on the walls of an old castle in the island of Kerrera, near Oban, in the Western Highlands, indifferent, seemingly, whether they nestled in the lofty cliffs on the mainland, where they are numerous, or on the equally secure ruins of masonry in the opposite island. That they are truly wild here there can be no doubt. Indeed, the precipitous shores of Scotland, the Hebrides, and Orkneys, afford them exactly the kind of retreat that suits their habits; and here among inaccessible rocks they build their nests and on their return from their inland marauding expeditions, pass their nights. Their attitudes, mode of flight, progression when on the ground, note, and manner of feeding, are the same as those of the common tame Pigeon; and, as might be expected, both wild and tame birds agree in declining to perch on trees.