The Ring Dove, so called from the white feathers which
form a partial ring round its neck, and equally well known
in many parts of England as the Wood Pigeon, and in
the North as the Queest or the Cushat, is the largest member
of the genus found in Europe. It is an abundant and generally
distributed species throughout the British Islands -; its
numbers having increased of late years to an extent which
has caused grave anxiety to the farmers. This is mainly
owing to the altered conditions of cultivation; the large
proportion of land now under turnips and other green crops
supplying food which was formerly wanting during the
inclement months; whilst .th© numerous small plantations
which have lately sprung up afford just the kind of shelter
that the Ring Dove requi resopen -'enough to preclude
the approach..'of an unseen adversary,pilose enough for
protection .'from .-^he- weather, and f°r breeding purposes.
Add to this, that its natural foes have been, as far ^possible,
destroyed |y game-preservers and their keepers, and it can
hardly be a matter; of surprise .that under such favourable
circumstances the species;,^', now/far more numerically
abundant than in former years. In additiondo those; bred
in this country, ..large flocks.make their-appearance in winter
and autumn,, crossing-the North Sea fromdhe • continent by
an E . to wFnight. *-
The note of this Dove—a deep/g^S ro&f'ffii'-edo—rn&j be
frequently heard in the months of .March and April in the
neighbourhood of woods and plantation's, particularly those
of firs, in which it delights5to build. "-The nest usually
consists of merely a few „sticks laid^cross, at times,so thinly
that the ' eggs ■ can be distinguished from’ but it is
often more substantial, and occasionally, the old nest of
some other bird, or a squirreFs-drey,’ serves- as a^foundatiom
Although ..generally at some distance, from the ground, it is
also to be found in hedgerows of old hawthojrat; and Mr/R.
Gray states that near Arbroath/in-. Forfarshire, nests, have
been /^served in tall whin bus^s,,^, Not unfrequently 4 t
* Birds of the Weat-ef Scotland, p. 218.*
ohooses a site foi* its nest in gardens' in close proximity to
habitations, and sometimes even in the matted ivy covering
their walls. The first clutch of eggs is generally laid early
in April, and the second! early- in Juried evenf a;third laying
is not unfrequent, for birds just hatched have 'been found
at least as late as October- 18th, so-that even a- fourth bröod
is possible/ although the young probably succumb to the
approach of winter.* The.' eggs,: whose complement, as
with all true Pigeons, is invariably two in number, are oval
in form and of a pure glossy white, measuring-1*6 by 1*2 ;
they are deposited at an interval of twof or three days; and
incubation lasts from 'sixteen to ^eighteen. The5* male' takes
a share in this task, and; as a rulé; sits on the eggs during
the greater portionmfrihe day. The young, when hatched,
are helpless and blind, continuing so until' about the ninth
day,- arid they remain in the n est until they are quite able to
fly. They are S nourished by -food1 supplied .’from the- Crops
of the parent birds, who, opening \ their bills* so' that- thé
mandibles of the young enter- the pharynxy regurgitate the
pulpy and half-digested,- curd-like 'contents'-.'of the crop,
shewing that' p pigeon’s milk;H* is not? the absolute's and
unfounded-fable it was once supposed to be. ^:Mrï R.'Gray-
fop; cit?) -states'that he- has -several .times*reared young birds
from . eggs placed\ under a common -Pigeon;- and in dEdse;
cases, they maintained- a quiet* habit,?- mixing, freely* and
tamely with their domestic- neighbours;- but- in- only one
instance did he know-"of a Ring Dove breeding ■iiTTGonfine-
ment. This was a female, ^ k èn ’'yöung;iwhieh^fedéivêdvJhêr
liberty when fully grown, but, instead of flying back- to the
woods, .she paired with a ^bachelor domestic- -Pdgéon in a
dovecote ' in -the town of* Cumnock. "Thé pair-'had eggs
three times, although only?1 onevyoung bird was reared;* it
was larger than the -domestic -Pigeon,i and. resembled thé
female parent in its general markings*. As ment£ohéd/in
former Editions of this work", the-late Mr.* Thomas* Allis, of
* Mr. Frank Norgate 1.Ö6) states that on February 1st-he
shot fonr young Ring Daves in Norfolk, one* of which, retained the long downy
filaments oh thé upper wing-coverts.