File:Britain's birds and their nests (1910) (14568703129).jpg

Identifier: britainsbirdsthe00thom (find matches)
Title: Britain's birds and their nests
Year: 1910 (1910s)
Authors: Thomson, Arthur Landsborough, Sir, 1890- Thomson, J. Arthur (John Arthur), 1861-1933 Rankin, George
Subjects: Birds -- Great Britain Birds -- Nests
Publisher: London : W. & R. Chambers
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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the results are awaited withinterest. A disease affecting the growing feathers and ulti-mately rendering the bird incapable of flight also attacksthis species at times. THE STOCK=DOVE (Columba oenas). Plate 41. Although more local and altogether less abundant thanthe preceding species, the Stock-Dove is a fairly commonbird throughout the greater part of the British Isles.In many districts, however, it is not properly distin-guished by the country-folk, but is confused with one orother of its allies. It is very frequently misnamed the Rock-Dove, and the confusion is increased by people who,knowing its real name, imagine it is so called because thespecies was the original stock from which our domesticPigeons were derived. As a matter of fact, the Rock-Dove is the ancestor of om- domestic birds, and theepithet stock has reference to the birds habit of nestingin the stocks of trees. The Stock-Dove may be distinguished from the Wood-Pigeon by the absence of the characteristic white patches
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J*^?&M»Vj««S«!~^7 Plate 42. ROCK-PIGEON—C^///;;/M livia. Length, 13 in. (Columb.t. : Columbidae.)P 126 BRITAINS BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 127 on the neck, and from the Rock - Dove by the absenceof the white rump and of the black-barred wings. Thefemale Stock - Dove is rather smaller in size and dullerin colour than the cock, and the immature bird is stillduller and lacks altogether the brilliant metallic lustreof the neck-plumage of the adult. Old woodlands are the tjrpical haunts of the Stock-Dove during the nesting season, holes in trees beingthe commonest sites. Other sites are on buildings orcrags, or the eggs may be laid in old nests of otherbirds. In the north of England and in Scotland theStock-Dove is best known as a nester in rabbit - burrows,especially among the sandhills along the coasts. The eggsare usually laid several feet down the burrow, but wehave found them at the very mouth more than once.In this situation they have been figured in the accom-panying plate for

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