When one of these birds is trapped or snared, it is seized by its capturers, who spare its life for the sake of using it as a decoy. They blind it by sewing its eyelids together, and then fasten it to a perch among trees. The miserable bird utters plaintive cries, and continually flaps its wings, thus attracting others of its kind, who settle on the surrounding branches and are easily taken, their whole attention being occupied by the cries of their distressed companion. We now come to the Turtle Doves, several of which inhabit the Holy Land; but, as they are similar in habits, we will confine ourselves to the common species, with which we are so familiar in this country. Its migratory habits are noticed in the sacred writings. See the following passage in the Song of Solomon: "Lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land" (Cant. ii. 11, 12). The prophet Jeremiah also refers to the migration of this bird: "Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord" (viii. 7). Beside this species, there is the Collared Turtle Dove, one variety of which is known as the Barbary Dove. It is a large species, measuring more than a foot in length. Another species is the Palm Turtle, so called from its habit of nesting on palm-trees, when it is obliged to build at a distance from the habitations of man. It is a gregarious bird, several nests being generally found on one tree, and even, when it cannot find a palm, it will build among the thorns in multitudes. Like the common Dove, it is fond of the society of man, and is sure to make its nest among human habitations, secure in its knowledge that it will not be disturbed. [Illustration: THE TURTLE DOVE.] It is rather a small bird, being barely ten inches in length, and having no "collar" on the neck, like the two preceding species. [Illustration: chickens] POULTRY. Poultry plentiful in Palestine at the present day--The Domestic Fowl unknown in the early times of Israel--The eating and gathering of eggs--References to Poultry in the New Testament--The egg and the scorpion--The fatted fowl of Solomon--The hen brooding over her eggs--Poultry prohibited within Jerusalem--The cock-crowing. At the present day, poultry are plentiful both in Palestine and Syria, and that they were bred in the time of the Apostles is evident from one or two references which are made by our Lord. How long the Domestic Fowl had been known to the Jews is extremely uncertain, and we have very little to guide us in our search.