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 his tail, at the same time uttering the well-kwown coo-roo-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 advances, and sometimes stretching out her neck, as if to repel him by blows. The male continues his strutting and cooing, until the female, inadvertently commg upon the edge of the shelf, flies off to the dark recesses of the neighbouring cave, where she has scarcely alighted when her lover is again by her side.

"Matters go on in this manner, and in the meantime a nest is gradually formed, which consists of withered stalks and blades of grass or other plants, not very neatly arranged, but disposed so as to answer the intended purpose. Two beautiful white eggs, of an elliptical form, one an inch and four-twelfths in length, an inch and one-twellth in breadth, the other a little shorter, are then deposited, and in due time the young make their appearance. In about three weeks the young come abroad, and after being fed and instructed by their parents for some days, are left to shift for themselves.

"The old birds soon repair their nest, and rear another brood. I cannot speak with certainty as to the precise number of broods raised in the course of a season, but I know that there are at least two. The first eggs are laid about the middle of April, and the latest young are seen about the end of September. It appears to me probable, from circumstances which have come under my observation, that the same nest is used for different broods; and it is commonly believed, and not improbable, that these birds pair for life. The young are fed by their parents, who, applying their open mouth to that of the nestling, the mandibles of which enter the pharynx, force up the food from their crop, so as to be within reach of the bill of the young, which all the while flaps its wings, and utters a low cheeping note, indicative of its eagerness to have its wants supplied.

"There can be no reasonable doubt that the Rock Dove is the original of our domestic pigeons, in fact the true Stock Dove, although that name has been given to another species. Individuals of the domesticated race which cannot be distinguished from those of the wild, are of common occurrence; and, however highly varieties may be prized, the blue, white-backed race is certainly the most beautiful. I have seen in the Hebrides a few house-pigeans which had deserted and lived among the wild doves. In various places along the cast coast of Scotland, as at the Cove, near Aberdeen, at Dunottar Castle, near Stonehaven, and the Bass Rock, in the Firth of Forth, I have observed wild pigeons among the rocks. Some of them presented the pure unvarying tints of the Rock Dove, while others were of different shades of blue or purple. These were in all probability domestic pigeons that had run wild, and their descendants. The best places for studying the habits of the species, or for procuring specimens, are the islands of Lewis, Harris, Uist, Barray, Skye, the northern coasts of Scotland, the Shetland and Orkney Islands.

"The boys in the Outer Hebrides often attempt to rear young doves, but their cares are seldom continued long enough. They introduce the food, dry barley