liffs of soft limestone honey-combed in all directions by

d, from the multitude of Pigeons they contain, ‘ Wady
. s the Wady Hamam leading from
inhabited by thousands of

j PO ES “eC] 1 sa
Holy Land does in deep gorges, with precipitous

Several of these gorges are name ae

One of the most remarkable of these 1
z AVE

are the famed robbers caves,

caves and fissures.
Hamam,’ i. e. Ravine of Pigeons.
the plain of Gennesaret at the south-west, where ane ames
ift fli -oostine’-places far in the nssure ‘
the ca ead ee They also swarm in the ravine of the Kelt, by Jericho,
awks th t raverns with them. rey als
the many Hawks that share the cz ae ee ieee
Pat i and 1 » Kedron. Above all, they people tne
i sides of the ntation, and in the Kec
in the sides of the Mount of Tem] : S ee en
lifts which shut in the Arnon and the Zerka, in the land of Moab, as they did 11
Bric is tl the Columba Schimperi of Egypt. On the coast, however,
: : istricts ame as the | QN
The Rock-Pigeon of these districts 1s the sc 2 eae a
' via 1 ir er bir rrates in Palestine, and we
and in the colder highlands, the C. va 1s the common bird. Neither bird migrate é 5
‘ c

° > 9?
found the eggs and young at all times of the year.
cS . 2 . oan ” ‘ St.
“The hardy little blue Rock-Pigeon (Columba livia),” says 8 ee
: . . Oy 7 ~ x 0 caverns. oO > 2g
p and broken into fissures and ps. One moment dashing into its
skimming the very surface of the breakers, it gives apimation
of cliffs as far north as Cape Wrath and Whiten Head ;

ure from the attacks of

Jobn, “abounds on all the sea-coast of

Scotland where the rocks are stee
breeding-place, and flying out the next, then
and interest to many a desolate and rugged range
and it still frequents the rocks on this coast, though in Sa numbers, ae ce so ee ee ee
Pigeon (which it so exactly resembles), that it would be difficult to decide if any oa wild birds sti Se
anche caves on the Ross-shire coast, and all along the north, great numbers are still seen. a con in
the caves and holes of the rocks close to the sea-side ; and the nest is usually placed in the most inaccessibic
and difficult recesses of the rocks—so much so that, numerous as they are, it is often very difficult to obtain
their eggs. The nest is composed of whatever twigs, pieces of dried grass, &c. they can pick up in the
wild places they inhabit, and is precisely like that of the tame Pigeon.”

Macgillivray states that, “ at early dawn, the Pigeons may be seen issuing from their retreats among the
rocks in straggling parties, which soon take a determinate direction, and, meeting with others by the way,
proceed in a loose body along the shores until they reach the cultivated parts of the country, where they
settle in large flocks and diligently seek for grains of barley and oats, pods of the charlock, seeds of the
wild mustard, polygona and other plants, together with several species of small-shelled snails, especially Helv
ericetorum and Bulimus acutus, which abound in the sandy pastures. When they have young, they necessarily
make several trips in the day; but from the end of autumn to the beginning of sammer they continue all
day in the fields. In winter they collect into flocks, sometimes composed of several hundred individuals,
and at this season may be easily approached by creeping and skulking ; but in general they are rather shy.

“The notes of the Rock-Dove resemble the syllables coo-r00-coo quickly repeated, the last prolonged. It
is monogamous, and its nuptials are celebrated with much cooing and circumambulation on the part of the
male. A love-scene among the rocks is really an interesting sight. Concealed in a crevice or behind a
projecting cliff, you see a Pigeon alight beside you and stand quietly for some time, when the whistling of
pinions is heard and the male shoots past like an arrow and is already beside his mate. Scarcely has he
made a rapid survey of the place when, directing his attention to the ouly beautiful object he sees, he
approaches her, erecting his head and swelling out his breast by inflating bis crop, and, spreading his tail

at the same time, uttering the well-known co0-r00-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 nest is formed of
withered stalks and blades of grass and other plants, not very neatly arranged, but disposed so as to answer

oo : Wy : : SN ays $ allint) — 1 1 1
the intended purpose. Iwo beautiful white eggs of an elliptical form are then deposited ; and in due time
the young make their appearance.

my r e fs.
The front figure is of the natural size." re is little i 1
g ature . There is little or no difference in the plumage of the sexes.

It would be o ac . ee . :
dhe out of place here to give any account of the numerous domesticated varieties of the
Rock-Dove, since they will be found amply described in «The Pige
5

re oon on-fancier’s Manual’ and similar pub-
ications ;_ but I cannot refrain from alluding

to the vast ver ig i i i I
NW re on ine to te oe of flight produced by constant cultivation in
é g a bird which ha r ages , 1 1
ae i : al as been for ages employed, especially in the East, to
y migence Irom one distant point to another—a striking instance of which has j I alled
my attention by H. W. Freeland. Es ai 5 Se
yi ion by H. W. eland, Hsq., of Chichester:—* Last week the members of the Ornithological
Society of Pesth despatched two carrier pigeons to Colog then 1 aca
eee ge gue, whence they had arrived tw
garian | geons accompanied the Rhenish ones as an escort, but retur
pigeons commenced their flight at 6 a.m. ; and at five in the afternoon
stating that they reached that town at two,
Cologne (about 600 miles) in eight hours.”

o days before.
ned shortly after. The
a telegram arrived from Cologne
thus performing the whole distance betwe i

ou en Pesth and
— Morning Post, Thursday, June 9, 1870.