be but little peas, beans, or grain left in the Islands; and the Wood Pigeons would be more destructive to the crops in Guernsey than in England, as there are not many acorns or Beech masts on which they could feed; consequently they would live almost entirely on the farmer; and to show the damage they would be capable of doing in this case, I may say that in the crops of two that I examined some time ago—­not killed in Guernsey however—­I found, in the first, thirty seven beech-masts in the crop, and eight others in the gizzard, sufficiently whole to be counted; and in the crop of the other the astonishing number of seventy-seven beech-masts and one large acorn; the gizzard of this one I did not examine.  I only mention this to show the damage a few Wood Pigeons would do supposing they were restricted almost entirely to agricultural produce for their food, as they would be in Guernsey if they lived there in any great numbers.

The Wood Pigeon is mentioned by Professor Ansted and marked as only occurring in Guernsey, and probably as far as breeding is concerned this is right (of course with the exception of Jersey); but wandering flocks probably occasionally visit Alderney as well.  There is no specimen in the Museum.

92.  ROCK DOVE. Columba livia, Linnaeus.  French, “Colombe biset.”—­I have never seen the Rock Dove in any of the Islands, though there are many places in all of them that would suit its habits well; and Mr. MacCulloch writes to me to say, “I have heard that in times past the Rock Pigeon used to breed in large numbers in the caves around Sark”; but this certainly is not the case at present.  Captain Hubbach also writes to me from Alderney, “There were some Rock Doves here in the winters of 1862 and 1863; I shot two or three of them then.”  Probably a few yet remain in both Alderney and Sark, though they certainly are not at all numerous in either island.

Professor Ansted includes the Rock Dove in his list, and marks it as occurring in Guernsey and Sark.  There is no specimen in the Museum.  Professor Ansted also includes the Stock Dove, Columba aenas, Linnaeus, in his list as occurring in Guernsey and Sark; but I think he must have done so on insufficient evidence, as I have never seen it and not been able to gain any information about it; neither does Mr. Gallienne say anything about it in his notes appended to the list; so on the whole I think it better to omit it in my list; but as it may occur at any time, especially as it is certainly increasing considerably in numbers in the West of England, I may mention that it may be immediately distinguished from the Rock Dove by the absence of the white rump, that part being nearly the same colour as the back in the Stock Dove, and from the Wood Pigeon, Columba palumbus, by its smaller size and the entire absence of white on the wing.  It is perhaps more necessary to point out this difference, as the Stock Dove frequently goes by the name of the Wood Pigeon; indeed Dresser has adopted this name for it, the Wood Pigeon being called the Ring Dove, as is very frequently the case.