Page:White - The natural history of Selborne, and the naturalist's calendar, 1879.djvu/414

392 flight is not owing to its inability of flying faster, for I have seen it fly very swiftly, although in general its actions are sluggish. Its unwillingness to rise proceeds, I imagine, from its sluggish disposition, and its great timidity, for it will sometimes squat so close to the ground as to suffer itself to be taken up by the hand, rather than rise; and yet it will at times run very fast.

What Mr. White remarks respecting the small shell snails found in its gizzard, confirms my opinion, that it frequents corn-fields, seed clover, and brakes or fern, more for the sake of snails, slugs, and other insects which abound in such places, than for the grain or seeds; and that it is entirely an insectivorous bird.—.

FOOD OF THE RING-DOVE.

One of my neighbours shot a ring-dove on an evening as it was returning from feed, and going to roost. When his wife had picked and drawn it, she found its craw stuffed with the most nice and tender tops of turnips. These she washed and boiled, and so sat down to a choice and delicate plate of greens, culled and provided in this extraordinary manner.

Hence we may see that graminivorous birds, when grain fails, can subsist on the leaves of vegetables. There is reason to suppose that they would not long be healthy without; for turkeys, though corn fed, delight in a variety of plants, such as cabbage, lettuce, endive, etc., and poultry pick much grass; while geese live for months together on commons by grazing alone.

. That many graminivorous birds feed also on the herbage or leaves of plants, there can be no doubt: partridges and larks frequently feed on the green leaves of turnips, which give a peculiar