158 Breeding of the Green Fruit Pigeon 



hen now became still more familiar, and greeted me every time 

 I visited the aviary, by alighting;- on my head, and once, when I 

 took my brother, who belongs to the hatless brigade, in to see 

 the nest, she pitched on his head also. As his natural head 

 covering is now a little thin on top, and the Dove's claws were 

 almost as sharp as needles, the attention was not appreciated. 

 An attempt at this time to photograph her on the nest failed, as 

 she would persist on pitching on the camera and trying to 

 swallow the lens. Whether this attempt at photography dis- 

 turbed them, or whether they were annoyed by the mischievous 

 attentions of some Conures which evidently wished to share in 

 the duties of incubation, I don't know, but the hen refused to 

 sit and the cock, after sitting a few days alone, also gave it up. I 

 removed the Conures, and a few days afterwards saw the hen 

 Dove again carrying sticks. To my astonishment, she selected 

 as a site for her nest, a corner of the flight in which a bed of 

 nettles was growing, and here she built it upon the ground. Both 

 birds sat very steadily, easily scaring away a pair of Chukor 

 Partridges if they ventured too near. Just fourteen days after 

 the first egg was laid I saw an egg-shell outside the nest. The 

 eggs, by the way, are very small for the size of the bird, and not 

 much more than half the size of those of the Australian Bronze- 

 wings, birds of about the same w^eight. On the sixth day the 

 little Pigeon was feathering rapidly, and on the twelfth day I 

 found it roosting on a branch with its parents. It was then 

 fully feathered except for its wings and tail, but, in spite of tlie 

 shortness of its flights, it was quite able to fly short dis'tances. 

 The hen now became quite fierce, and most violently attacked 

 the hen Partridge. It was most amusing to watch the hen 

 waddling after it at a great pace, all the time grunting fiercely. 

 Had there not been plenty of natural cover in which the Part- 

 ridge could take shelter, it would have fared badly. I hope 

 that when the Chtikors' own eggs hatch, they will not turn the 

 tables on the Pigeons. In colour the young Pigeon closely 

 resembles its mother, but the green body colour is duller, the 

 under parts are dirty white instead of pale chrome-yellow, and 

 the wing coverts are edged with white. The bill is greyish 

 brown instead of bright blue. It was fed principally upon 

 banana, but milk-sop, boiled rice, and soaked maize were also 



