. The popular natural history . Zoology. 368 THE TURTLE-DOVE. wing, just as the finest breeds of lop-eared rabbits will now and then produce upright-eared young. The Rock-dove derives its popular name from its habit of frequenting rocks rather than trees, an idiosyncrasy which is so inherent in its progeny, that even the domestic Pigeons, which have not seen anything except their wooden cotes for a long series of generations, will, if they escape, take to rocks or buildings, and never trouble themselves about trees, though they should be at hand. This species seems to have a very considerable
. The popular natural history . Zoology. 368 THE TURTLE-DOVE. wing, just as the finest breeds of lop-eared rabbits will now and then produce upright-eared young. The Rock-dove derives its popular name from its habit of frequenting rocks rather than trees, an idiosyncrasy which is so inherent in its progeny, that even the domestic Pigeons, which have not seen anything except their wooden cotes for a long series of generations, will, if they escape, take to rocks or buildings, and never trouble themselves about trees, though they should be at hand. This species seems to have a very considerable geographical range, for it is common over most parts of Europe, Northern Africa, the coasts of ihe Mediterranean, and has even been found in Japan. From this stock, the varieties that have been reared by careful manage- ment are almost innumerable, and are so different in appearance that if thev were seen for the first time, almost any systematic naturalist would set them down as belonging not only to different species, but to different genera. Such, for example, as the pouter, the jacobin, the trumpeter, and the fan tail, the last-men- tioned bird having a greater number of fea- thers in its tail than any of the others. The world-famed TURTLE-DoVE is, al- though a regular visi- tor of this country, better known by fame and tradition than by actual observation. This bird has, from classic time until the present day, been conventionally accepted as the type of matrimonial per- fection, loving but its mate and caring for no other until death steps in to part the wedded couple. Yet it is by no means the only instance of such con- jugal affection among the feathered tribes, for there are hundreds of birds which can lay claim to the same excellent qualities, the fierce eagle and the ill-omened raven being among their number. The Turtle-dove seems to divide its attention pretty equally between Africr, and England, pausing for some little time in Southern Italy as a kind of half-way h
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1884
