Turtle-dove

Turtle-dove (Turtur), a genus of Columbidae, of graceful build, with small head and slender bill, long wings, and long rounded tail. The genus includes about thirty species, all of which are confined to the eastern hemisphere. The Common Turtle-dove (T. vulgaris) is abundant all the year round in the warmer parts of Europe and Asia, but is only a summer visitor in the colder parts. It is found in the south-eastern counties of England during the summer months, and occasionally further north, or even in the south of Scotland. The nest, a very rough loose structure of twigs, is placed on a branch or fork of a tree at no great distance from the ground. Two eggs are laid at a time, and several broods are reared in a season, the male taking an active share in the work of hatching and rearing the young. The food of the turtle-dove consists chiefly of seeds, and in some districts the number of birds present in a season is said to depend on the quantity of pine seeds. The turtle-dove is timid and cautious in its habits, and is effectively protected from birds of prey by its power of flying swiftly and almost noiselessly in and out among the trees even in the thickest part of a forest. Its plumage, though not so brilliant as that of the true pigeons, is very beautiful, the various tints of reddish-brown and gray shading softly into each other; the head and neck are blue, the tail-feathers tipped with white. Their beauty of form and colour, their soft cooing, and their affection towards each other and their young have made this and other species of turtle-dove favourite cage-birds. They are easily tamed, breed readily in captivity, and have been known to live as long as fourteen years. Turtur risorius, called turtle-dove and ring-dove, is of a pale cream-colour, with a black half-ring round its neck. See PIGEON.