178



On the S71 07 V Pigeon.



surprised what very substantial nests my birds built; the pair that

afterwards hatched young, placed a number of small branches in

a corner of the inner house of their aviary on the top of a heap

of faggots, some eight or nine feet from the ground ; this place

seemed to suit them as they always sat well, the birds became

tamer as nest succeeded nest ; at first the sitting bird would slip

off the nest when anyone entered, but after a time the old bird

would allow itself to be touched when sitting, only puffing out

its feathers and gently striking with its wing.


I have thirteen eggs, laid by at least three different females,

they are pure white and glossy and vary in shape to a remarkable

degree, from a prolonged pointed oval to a very round form, with

one end scarcely more pointed than the other, in size they about

equal those of our Stock Dove; in addition I have also an

abnormally small egg, perfectly formed, but which is scarcely as

large as that of a Turtle-dove.


The first egg of my breeding pair was laid on the 4th of

March, 1910, the second on the 6th, a young one was hatched on

the 25th; duration of incubation nineteen days; the egg was

chipped on the 24th ; this bird lived to be about five weeks old,

and is the bird described in the early stages below; the other

egg was addled. O11 May 14th I found a fresh egg, another being

laid the following day, these hatched on June 1st; incubation

seventeen days; these birds lived respectively for four weeks and

five weeks and three days. O11 June 30th the old birds had two

more eggs which hatched on July 18th ; eighteen, or perhaps

nineteen, days incubation ; these birds died when nearly five and

seven weeks old. The fourth and last set of eggs were laid on

August 19th and 21st, and two more young—making seven

altogether—were hatched on the 8th of September ; eighteen

days incubation. One young died when four weeks old, the

other was fully reared and lived until December 13th, being

over three months old at the time of its death,

f To be continued).



