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GROUP IV: greatly resembles the normal See also:form, and comprises two Races:—(1) " Trumpeters," with a tuft of feathers at the See also:base of the See also:neck See also:curling forward, the See also:face much feathered, and a very See also:peculiar See also:voice, and (2) Pigeons scarcely differing in structure from the See also:wild stock. Besides these some three or four other little-known breeds exist, and the whole number of breeds and sub-breeds almost defies computation. The difference between them is in many cases far 1 The Variation of Animals and See also:Plants under Domestication (See also:London, 1868), vol. i. pp. 131-224.from being superficial, for See also:Darwin has shown that there is scarcely any See also:part of the See also:skeleton which is See also:constant, and the modifications that have been effected in the proportions of the See also:head and sternal apparatus are very remarkable. Yet the See also:proof that all these different birds have descended from one See also:common stock is nearly certain. Here there is no need to point out its bearing upon the theory of natural selection. 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 See also:long been applied. The See also:dove from the earliest See also:period in See also:history has been associated with the See also:idea of a messenger (See also:Genesis viii. 8-12), and the employment of pigeons in that capacity, See also:developed successively by Greeks, See also:Romans, Mussulmans and Christians, has come down to See also:modern times. The various See also:foreign See also:species, if not truly belonging to the genus See also:Columba, are barely separable therefrom. Of these examples may be found in the See also:Indian, Ethiopian and Neotropical regions. Innumerable other forms entitled to the name of " dove " are to be found in almost every part of the See also:world, and nowhere more abundantly than in the Australian Region. A. R. See also:Wallace (See also:Ibis, 1865, pp. 365-400) considers that they attain their maximum development in the Papuan Subregion, where, though the See also:land See also:area is less than one-See also:sixth that of See also:Europe, more than a See also:quarter of all the species (some 300 in number) known to exist are found—owing, he suggests, to the See also:absence of See also:forest-haunting and See also:fruit-eating mammals, which are in most cases destructive to eggs also. To a small group of birds the name dove is, however, especially applicable in common parlance. This is the group containing the turtle-doves—the See also:time-honoured See also:emblem of tenderness and conjugal love. The common turtle-dove of Europe (Turtur auritus) is one of those species which are gradually extending their area. In See also:England, in the 18th See also:century, it seems to have been chiefly, if not solely, known in the See also:southern and western counties. Though in the See also:character of a straggler only, it now reaches the extreme See also:north of See also:Scotland, and is perhaps nowhere more abundant than in many of the midland and eastern counties of England. On the See also:continent of Europe the same thing has been observed, though indeed not so definitely; and this species has appeared as a casual visitor within the See also:Arctic Circle. Its graceful form and the delicate See also:harmony of its modest colouring are proverbial. The species is migratory, reaching Europe See also:late in See also:April and retiring in See also:September. Another species, and one perhaps better known from being commonly kept in confinement, is that called by many the collared or See also:Barbary dove (T. risorius) —the second See also:English name probably indicating that it was by way of the Barbary See also:coast that it was brought to England. This is distinguished by its cream-coloured plumage and See also:black necklace. (A. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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