•296 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



into a. wooded valley at Content, to look at a Partridge's 

 nest. As we crept cautiously towards the spot the male 

 birds flew from it. I was surprised at its rudeness ; it 

 was nothing but half a dozen decayed leaves laid one 

 on another, and on two or three dry twigs, but from 

 the sitting of the birds it had acquired a slight hollow- 

 neas, about as much as that of a sikimmer. It was 

 placed on the top (elightly eunk among the leaves) of a 

 small bush, not more than 3ft. high, whose glossy foliage 

 and small white ■blos.'wm's l^eIninded me of a myrtle. 

 There were two young, recently hatched ; callow and 

 l>e'rfeetly helple.ss, their eyes cloeed, their bills large and 

 misshai>en, they bore little resemblance to birds. 



'■ On another occasion I saw the male shot while sit- 

 ting ; the nest was then placed on a slendei- bush about 

 5ft. from the ground. There ;vere but two egge, of a very 

 pale buff colour ; sooietimies, however, they are consider- 

 ably darker." 



Major- Charles Bendrre says (" Life Histories of North 

 American Birds," Vol. I., p. 155) : "Seven eggs of this 

 epecies are in the U.S. National Museum collection, all 

 taiken in the West India Islands. They are oval in 

 shape, and rather moa-e rounded than is usually the case 

 with Pigeon eggs. In colour they vajy considerably, 

 from a pale cream to a salmon-bnff. The average 

 measurement is 27 by 21 millimeti-es. " 



Russ ob.'^rves : " From 1860 to 1875 this beautiful and 

 delightful Dove an-ived from time to time at the Zoologi- 

 cal Gardens of London, and' had already nested there in 

 the year 1863, aaid after that on several occasions suc- 

 cessfully. Reiche. of Alfeld, imported it in a consider- 

 able nimibeii- in the spring of 1886. I received a pair 

 from him for identification." "In recent times this 

 species has only rarely arrived in the market." 



In The AviaiUural Magazine, iSecond Series, Vol. I., 

 p. 23.1, Miss Aldierson mentions a pair ■which she pur- 

 chiased a,t from 30s. ,to 35s. the pair, 'butt she says sihe 

 has since .^een .these Doves offered lat la lower iprice, but 

 is not certain that they ivere of the same species. It 

 is most probaMe itliiat they were. 



OuB.4N P.\RTHiDGE^DovE* {Gcotnjgon chrxjsia). 



Above chiefly cinnamon, ■with Ibriglht meltallic punjale 

 edges to the ifeaithers; these becoime diuHer a.nd more 

 gv>ldeii on the lower !back, rump, and upper tail-coverts ; 

 on the wings only the lesser npper coverts haive pu.iipte 

 edges ; the primaries have brownish terminal miarglijis ; 

 lateroil tail-feiathere with brown dots near the tips, which 

 have wihitisch edges ; [forehead lbrownis:h-red. changing 

 to metallic Eireem blading to .violet on the cjown, (back 

 of head, and nape ; a white band Ibelow the e.}'es and 

 throat ; reddislh-ibirown cheeJc-istripes ; lowea- throat and 

 birea/st pale viiiaceous tinged Ibohind 'with greyisli and 

 becomiiing whitish on tlie abdto.men and under taiil- 

 conp-erts ; Bxdllaries pale reddish ; under wing-coverts 

 cinnamon ; (hill wd ; feet paile red ; im.des ipale Ibrown. 

 Female generallv duller, and Wiith la good deal of pafe 

 brown on tihe wings. Hfei.b., Haiti, Culba., Bahamas, and 

 Florida- Keys. 



According to Gundlach •(" Beitrag« zur Ornithologie 

 Cubas "). the halhits of this Dove nearly ireisemlb'le those 

 of the " Bl-u-e-headed QuaiiJ-Dove," prelfierrinig rocky anid 

 wooded ii-egions. He Bays : " I scarcely ever met'them 

 outside of the forest. In the d.ensely-ti,mlbered p'ortions 

 it may Ibe seen scratching lamomg th© Qea.ves for food. 

 It likes to perch on horizontal limbs, especially on 

 limbs of the zacsas. 



" Its rather dtalelful icall-ncte .resembles the syllalbles 

 hi) -lip.' The nest, consisting of a slight platform of 



• Or "Key-West Quail Dove." 



sticks, is usually placed on the .top icrcwn of centain 

 parasitac creepers founds in the more open but shady 

 pn-nii.tive forests. The ©ggs .are two in number, of a. 

 paJe ochre yeillow colour, and measure 31.5 by 24 milli- 

 metres. I found nests Ibetiweeii the months of Feibiruary 

 and July." 



Mr. T. H. iNawmaix mentioned .this species to m« as 

 ha\nng been imporited, and rofaiired me to The Avicul- 

 tural Magazine, iSecond iSeries, Vol. VII., p. 39. Miss 

 Aldereon's d'escriiption of the " Black-bearded " or 

 " SpanlLsh iParitridge-Doive " difteirs igreatly from that of 

 the piPesent species, and would, I should imagine, better 

 accord with GundJach's " Blue-headed Quaal^Doive " 

 (Starncenas cyanocephala), but I am a good deiail 

 puzzzled respecting the identity of the Black-lbearded 

 Dove, fwibioh IMiiss Aldeirson d'escribes as rich Ibrownash- 

 maroon, lighter on the ibreaet, cobalt Mue cap, and dark 

 meitallic blue chin-bib, unilesis peirchiance at .;s Starncenas 

 cyanocephala. Nothing is saiid respecting metallic 

 purple edges to the feathers of the upper .parts, or of 

 the igreen shot witli violet on the crown and naipe 

 ohaxaiotea'istac of G. chrysia, and I cannot diisooveir that 

 any deiscriibed spieicies of this genus has a da.rk lbiu« 

 patch on the chin; however, G. chrysia was identiiifiied 

 !by Mr. Newman as in 'Mr. Astley's coillection. 



Moustache Gbouxd-Dove (Geotrygon mystacea). 



Hind neck and mantle metallic green, becoming bright 

 purple on upper back ; lower back, rump, upper tail- 

 coverts, wing-coverts and inner secondaries olive-brown; 

 primary-coverts and primaries cinnamon or coffee- 

 coloured, becoming brown towards the tips ; tail above 

 dark olive-bron-n, with the lateral feathers mostly cin- 

 namon, especially towards the base ; forehead brownish, 

 shading to brownish-green ; a broad stripe on the cheeks 

 and the middle of throat whitish ; a second stripe on 

 the cheeks brown ; front of neck and region of crop 

 reddish, shot with metaUic green and purple ; breast 

 pale vinous, fading to whitish on middle of abdomen; 

 sides, flanks, and under tail-coverts pale cinnamon, the 

 latter with paler tips ; under wing-coverts cinnamon ; 

 tail below cinnamon tipped with brown ; bill reddish 

 towards base, whitish towards tip ; feet clear flesh-red ; 

 irides red. 



I have come across no notes respecting the wild life 

 of this Dove, but it is not likely to differ much from 

 that of other species in the genus. Speaking of it in 

 captivity Russ observes: — 



■■ In its entire behaviour this Dove is in the highest 

 degree peculiar. .■Although it is palpably a Ground- 

 Dove, it is very fond oi moving about high in the 

 branches or roosting there. Meanwhile it remains silent 

 for a long time, bunched up and motionless on a Ihigh 

 branch. When, however, it once raises itself it rocks 

 its body several times, and especially the tail, up and 

 down, scratches its eye or bill with its foot and begins 

 to move backwards and forwards, lifting its feet high 

 and constantly swaying its body, behaving itself quite 

 like a RaO. Then it sees that fresh food and water 

 have been brought, and with two or three leaps it is 

 on the ground, where, with outstretched head and 

 drooping tail, it trots about thoughtfully but nimbly 

 between the food-pans. Now it begins to eat, and it is 

 certainly no Dove's meal which it consumes, certainly 

 not such a one as we have been accustomed to witness 

 in the case of other Doves. First a piece of raw meat is 

 tossed down, then it rims to a dish of hard-boiled egg 

 and bread and tnkes se\"eral morsels from it. it next 

 puts away some seed, then two or three red currants, 

 now again a piece of meat, finally a good drink of water. 



