THE TURTLE DOVE.
Columba Turtur, Linnæus; La Tourterelle, Buffon; Die Turteltaube, Bechstein.
This pretty species is ten or eleven inches in length. The beak is slender, and pale blue; the iris is reddish yellow; the naked circle round the eyes is blush red; the legs and feet are reddish purple; the forehead is whitish; the top of the head and upper part of the neck are pale blue; from this to the tail the blue is more dingy; on each side of the neck is a black spot striped with three of four crescent-shaped white lines, which has a pretty effect.
Habitation.—In their wild state these birds are found throughout the temperate parts of Europe and Asia, and also in many of the South Sea Islands. They always prefer woods, but never go far into those on great chains of mountains; they also frequent detached thickets, and even orchards when near forests. Being more delicate than the two preceding species, they do not arrive in our woods till the end of April or beginning of May, and quit us in September. They are often seen in great numbers in the forests of Thuringia when the pine seed has ripened well. In 1788 a prodigious number were seen; they have never since been so numerous there[120].
In the house we keep them within a grated partition near the stove, where they can range freely. Young ones reared by a domestic pigeon are easily accustomed to the dovecot, but as they are very sensible to cold it is necessary to warm the place they are in during winter. These birds multiply fast, either paired amongst themselves or with the collared turtle dove.
Food.—The seeds of the pine seem to be their favourite food here, but they do not confine themselves to it; they eat peas, vetches, millet, hemp-seed, rye, and wheat. In the house they may be fed on bread and any grain at hand: they are easily preserved.
Breeding.—When wild, their nest, negligently formed of dried sticks, is tolerably secure when placed in a pine, but is often blown down when in a beech. The female lays two white eggs.
In the house the turtle dove is given a small straw basket, in which it builds, for, whether reared from the nest, or taken when full grown, it pairs without difficulty, and produces young ones. It will also pair with the collared turtle.
The cooing of the male is peculiar; he utters a deep prolonged sound, then bends his head and stops. The young birds are grey on the upper part of the body, and spotted with bluish black on the wings. Those sprung from a collared and a common turtle dove are more or less like either; generally they are reddish grey on the head, neck, and breast, the back and wing-coverts, with red appearing through the grey; the belly, the secondary quill-feathers, and the end of the tail, are white, and the primaries greyish brown. These birds are fruitful, and produce others; what is curious is that they are larger than the parent birds, and have a peculiar note. This is certainly also the case with other mule birds, as I have often observed.