There is meaning in the various colors of doves. The red dove rules over all the others and brings the other doves into the dovecote. The song of the dove is mournful. Doves fly in flocks and continually kiss; they have twin young. Doves sit on water so that they can see the reflection of the hawk, which they can then avoid. The dove lacks gall, and nests in holes in rocks. It does not eat corpses or live by plunder, but instead gathers the best seeds.

When menaced by a dragon, doves will fly to a peridexion tree, where they are safe.

The dove is associated with Christ and the Holy Spirit. God sent his spirit in the form of a dove to gather mankind into his church. As there are many colors of doves, so there were many ways of speaking through the laws and the prophets. The meanings of the colors of the dove are: red - the predominant color because Christ redeemed man with his blood; speckled - the diversity of the twelve prophets; gold - the three boys who refused to worship the golden image; air colored - the prophet Elisha, who was taken up into the air; black - obscure sermons; ash colored - Jonah, who preached wearing a hair shirt and ashes; stephanite - Stephen, the first martyr; white - John the Baptist and the cleansing of baptism.

A common dove illustration shows doves in a peridexion tree being menaced by one of more dragons; these illustrations are often large and elaborate. There are several symbolic dove images found in a range of manuscripts: the dove and the hawk together under two arches, symbolizing the peace and war; the three doves that represent Christ, Adam (sometimes David) and Noah; doves illustrating the the symbology of the colors of the dove; and a dove at the center of a complex circular diagram that shows various Christian relationships.

The blood of a dove, if taken from under its right wing, can treat problems of the eye.