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There has fallen a splendid tear
From the passion-flower at the gate.
She is coming, my dove, my dear;
She is coming, my life, my fate;
The red rose cries, "She is near, she is near";
And the white rose weeps, "She is late";
The larkspur listens, "I hear, I hear";
And the lily whispers, "I wait."
Tennyson
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Rock Dove
(Columba livia)
The rock dove comes in many colours, but
always has a white rump. Both sexes take part in building the makeshift
nest of twigs and incubating the two white eggs. The squabs are
altricial, but parents also feed the young. The first few days after
hatching, the young are fed pigeon milk, an off-white substance which
resembles fine curd cottage cheese and has a very pungent odour. The
epithelial lining of the crop of the birds thickens and then sloughs off
to form pigeon milk. The young birds place their bills far up into the
throats of the adults, and swallow as their mouths fill. Within a few
days, the young begin to receive grain mixed with the pigeon milk.
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