Notes re Vicul and other Doves. l'^ 



a roomy one, and as reganls diet, it sliouUl be sui)])lie(l \vitli 

 liisectile mixture (soft fooil), ripe Iruit and live insects, uiid iiice 

 nearly all the HTUKNID^E it does not ilisdain to lielj) itself to seed 

 aiul grain. Unless the aviary be large enougii to |»rovide some 

 live prey, live food should be regularly supplied-- beetles, grass- 

 iioppers, spiders, worms, smooth caterpillars and smooth larvte and 

 pui);e generally, will all help to satisfy its somewhat huge appetite 

 and tend to its general well being. 



{To be Contmu,t*i) . 



Notes re Picui and other Doves. 



By E. F. M. Elms. 



The following extracts from my aviary log-book may 

 possibly i)rove of interest to some of our members. 



1911. On June 20th, I bought a pair of small doves 

 in Covent Garden, the name of which the dealer did not know, 

 neither did I. On July 1st I left home for four weeks, 

 and soou after I received a letter from my man, stating that 

 the smallest Doves in the aviary had two eggs in a hanging 

 basket. Since my purchase I procured a copy of Miss Alder - 

 son's book on " Foreign Doves," and by its aid I was 

 enabled to identify my recent acquisition as Picui Doves {Col- 

 iimbula picui). They are quarrelsome birds, and the Zebra and 

 Barbary Doves have rather a rough time of it with them. 



On my return I was gratified to find two plump 

 young Picuis just ready to leave the nest, which was in the 

 worst possible place, the young being very likely to land 

 in the duck -pond and sure enough this happened with one of 

 them, but fortunately I was there to fish it out. On July 29th 

 the hen Picui was again sitting on two eggs and as I was 

 afraid that the young birds would not be reared, I cut down 

 the nest and put the eggs under a Barbary hen [I have 

 found it best to let Picui and Diamond Doves take their own 

 course, the young are usually reared, often as many as five 

 or six pairs in the one season. — Ed.]; though the eggs have 

 been removed I have not been able to detect any inclina.- 

 tion on the part of the hen to feed her babies. The parents 

 have not been very pleasant to their progeny, for my man, 

 Timson, says he saw them turn the young ones out of the 



