almost defies computation. The difference between them is in many cases far from being superficial, for Mr Darwin has shown that there is scarcely any part of the skeleton which is constant, and the modifications that have been effected in the proportions of the head and sternal appa ratus are very remarkable. Yet the proof that all these different birds have descended from one common stock is nearly certain. Here there is no need to point out its bearing upon the " Theory of Natural Selection " which that eminent naturalist and Mr Wallace have rendered so well known. The antiquity of some of these breeds is not the least interesting part of the subject, nor is the use to which one at least of them has long been applied. The Dove from the earliest period in history has been associated with the idea of a messenger (Genesis viii. 8-12), and its employment in that capacity, developed successively by Greeks, Romans, Mussulmans, and Christians, has never been more fully made available than in our own day, as witness the " Pigeon-post " established during the recent
siege of Paris.Leaving, then, this interesting subject, spaca does not permit our here dwelling on various foreign species, which, if not truly belonging to the genus Columba, are barely separable therefrom. Of these examples may be found in the Indian, Ethiopian, and Neotropical Regions. Still less can we here enter upon the innumerable other forms, though they may be entitled to the name of " Dove," which are to be found in almost every part of the world, and nowhere more abundantly than in the Australian Region. Mr Wal lace (Ibis, 1865, pp. 365-400) considers that they attain their maximum development in the Papuan Subregion, where, though the land-area is less than one-sixth that of Europe, more than a quarter of all the species (some 300 in number) known to exist are found owing, he suggests, to the absence of forest-haunting and fruit-eating Mammals.
It would, however, be impossible to conclude this article without noticing a small group of birds to which in some minds the name Dove will seem especially applicable. This is the group containing the Turtle-Doves the time- honoured emblem of tenderness and conjugal love. The common Turtle-Dove of Europe (Turtur auritus) is one of those species which is gradually extending its area. In England, not much more than a century ago, it seems to have been chiefly, if not solely, known in the southern and western counties. Though in the character of a straggler only, it now reaches the extreme north of Scotland, and is perhaps nowhere more abundant than in many of the mid land and eastern counties of England. On the continent the same thing has been observed, though indeed not so definitely ; and this species has within the last twenty years or so appeared as a casual visitor within the Arctic Circle. The probable causes of its extension cannot here be discussed ; and there is no need to dwell upon its graceful form and the delicate harmony of its modest colouring, for they are proverbial. The species is migratory, reaching Europe late in April and retiring in September. Another species, and one perhaps better known from being commonly kept in confinement, is that called by many the Collared or Barbary Dove (T. risorius) the second English name probably indicating that it was by way of that country that it was brought to us, for it is not an African bird. This is distinguished by its cream-coloured plumage and black necklace. Some uncertainty seems to exist about its original home, but it is found from Constantinople to India, and is abundant in the Holy Land, though there a third species (T. senegalensis) also occurs, which Canon Tristram thinks is the Turtle-Dove of Scripture.
(a. n.)
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| Plan of Dover. |
