Holy Land does in deep gorges, with precipitous cliffs o f soft limestone honey-combed in all directions by
caves and fissures. Several of these gorges are named, from the multitude of Pigeons they contain, ‘ Wady
Hamam,’ i. e. Ravine of Pigeons. One of the most remarkable o f these is the Wady Hauiam leading from
the plain of Génnesaret a t the south-west, where are the famed robbers’ caves, inhabited by thousands of
Rock-doves, whose swift flight and roosting-places far in the fissures render them secure from the attacks of
the many Hawks that share the caverns with them. They also swarm in the ravine of the Kelt, by Jericho,
in the sides o f the Mount o f Temptation, and in the Kedron. Above all, they people the recesses o f the
cliffs which shut in the Arnon and the Zerka, in the land o f Moab, as they did in the time o f Jeremiah.
The Rock-Pigeon o f these districts is the same as the Columba Schimperi of Egypt. On the coast, however,
and in the colder highlands, the C. lima is the common bird. Neither bird migrates in Palestine, and we
found the eggs and young a t all times o f the year.”
“ The hardy little blue Rock-Pigeon ( Columba Ima),” says St. John, “ abounds on all the sea-coast of
Scotland where the rocks are steep and broken into fissures and caverns. One moment dashing into its
breeding-place, and flying out the next, then skimming the very surface o f the breakers, it gives animation
and interest to many a desolate and rugged range o f cliffs as far north as Cape Wrath and Whiten Head ;
and it still frequents the rocks on this coast, though in small numbers, and is so intermingled with the House-
Pigeon (which it so exactly resembles), that it would be difficult to decide if any of the wild birds still remain.
In the caves on the Ross-shire coast, and all along the north, great numbers are still seen. They build in
the caves and holes o f the rocks close to the sea-side ; and the nest is usually placed in the most inaccessible
and difficult recesses of the rocks—so much so that, numerous as they are, it is often very difficult to obtain
their eggs. The nest is composed o f whatever twigs, pieces o f dried grass, &c. they can pick up in the
wild places they inhabit, and is precisely like that of the tame Pigeon.”
Macgillivray states that, “ a t early dawn, the Pigeons may be seen issuing from their retreats among the
rocks in straggling parties, which soon take a determinate direction, and, meeting with others by the way,
proceed in a loose body along the shores until they reach the cultivated parts o f the country, where they
settle in large flocks and diligently seek for grains o f barley and oats, pods of the charlock, seeds o f the
wild mustard, polygona and other plants, together with several species of small-shelled snails, especially Helix
ericétorum and Bulimus acutus, which abound in the sandy pastures. When they have young, they necessarily
make several trips in the day ; but from the end o f autnmn to the beginning o f summer they continue all
day in the fields. In winter they collect into flocks, sometimes composed of several hundred individuals,
and at this season may be easily approached by creeping and skulking ; but in general they are rather shy.
“ The notes o f the Rock-Dove resemble the syllables coo-roo-coo quickly repeated, the last prolonged. It
is monogamous, and its nuptials are celebrated with much cooing and circumambulation on the p art of the
male. A love-scene among the rocks is really an interesting sight. Concealed in a crevice or behind a
projecting cliff, you see a Pigeon alight beside you and stand quietly for some time, when the whistling of
pinions is heard and the male shoot's past like an arrow and is already beside his mate. Scarcely has he
made a rapid survey o f the place when, directing his attention to the only beautiful object he sees, he
approaches her, erecting his head and swelling out his breast by inflating his crop, and, spreading his tail
at the same time,uttering the well-known c o o m o - coo, the soft and somewhat mournful sounds of which echo
among the cliffs. The female, shy and timorous, sits close to the rock, shifting her position a little as the
male advance? and sometimes stretching out her neck as if to repel him by blows. The nest is formed of
withered stalks and blades o f grass and other plants, not very neatly arranged, but disposed so as to answer
the intended purpose. Two beautiful white eggs o f an elliptical form are then deposited ; and in due time
the young make their appearance.
The front figure is of the natural size. There is little or no difference in the plumage of the sexes.
I t would be out of place here to give any account of the numerous domesticated varieties, o f the
Rock-Dove, since they will be found amply described in ‘The Pigeon-fancier’s Manual’ and similar publications;
but I cannot refrain from alluding to the vast power o f flight produced by constant cultivation in
that known as the Carrier Pigeon, a bird which has been for ages employed, especially in the East, to
convey intelligence from one distant point to another—a striking Instance of which has ju st been called to
my attention by H. W. Freeland, Esq., o f Chichester Last week the members o f the Ornithological
Society of Pesth despatched two carrier pigeons to Cologne, whence they had arrived two days before.
Four Hungarian pigeons accompanied the Rhenish ones as an escort, but returned shortly after. The
pigeons commenced their flight at 6 a .m . ; and at five in the afternoon a telegram arrived from Cologne
stating that they had reached that town a t two, thus performing the whole distance between Pesth and
Cologne (about 600 miles) in eight hours.”—Morning Post, Thursday, June 9, 1870.