134 BIRD-KEEPER'S MANUAL. 



sitting on the nest, he passes the night close by 

 her side. When the male coos, he does not turn, 

 round like others of his tribe, but walks up to 

 the female, lowers his head, and swells out his 

 crop, then raising his head, lowers it again, and 

 so repeats a very plaintive note. When moving 

 about, they have a more lively note, which re- 

 sembles a person laughing They require a pretty 

 large cage, and two boxes, fastened one at each 

 end about six or eight inches from the bottom, 

 containing some fine soft straw for their nests. 

 In Europe they are named the " Collared-Turtle 

 Dove." 



FOOD. They will eat any kind of grain ; bar- 

 ley, rice, or buckwheat is the best; they will 

 also eat bread. They require plenty of gravel 

 in bottom of the cage, and also to be kept in a 

 moderate temperature in winter ; not too warm, 

 for there are many, even tropical birds, who 

 suffer from heat in our warm rooms in winter. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SEXES. The male of 

 this bird has the upper parts of a reddish white, 

 the lower parts pure white; there is a black 

 crescent round the neck, the points of which 

 come forward. The female is much whiter, and 

 the ring paler. 



