196 Practical Bird-Keephig. — III. Pigeons and Doves.


It should be large and shallow, with a waste pipe let into the

ground. I use earthenware cottage sinks, and make a flight of

two or three steps down into the bath by cementing in some flat

tiles.


Half my flight, that portion under the glass roof, is floored

with cement; the other half, directly under the wire netting, is

of crushed ashes over earth, with wire sunk underneath.


It is a good plan to have a draw curtain, with rings on a

wire, across the front of the aviary. It keeps out the cold at

night and prevents cats frightening the birds. In the daytime it

can be tied back, but in very bad days in winter I keep it drawn.

In cold weather I also have a piece of canvas stretched and

nailed down over the wire top, and in summer this is shifted up

to the glass-roofed part to act as a shade, for the glass gets very

hot and trying to any nesting-bird sitting underneath it. Of

course, in a very large wire-roofed flight it would be next to

impossible to cover it with canvas, but my flights are, unfortu¬

nately, only small


I have to bring in a few of the doves in winter into a

closed-heated aviary, even with the protections from cold I have

described. The Bleeding Heart Pigeons have always to come in,

and, as a rule, you will find any of the tiny doves, such as Cape,

Passerine and Picui cannot stand the severe weather, they seem

to have far less stamina than the larger varieties. A cold bird

often ends in being a sick bird, and though I strongly advocate

fresh air, yet I think it cruel to force a bird to winter out when


its constitution cannot bear the strain.


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Nesting.


Doves readily make nests and lay, but not so easily rear

their young. A good pair of parent birds, that are sober enough

not to start a second nest until the first is finished, are invaluable.

The aviary should be prepared for nesting by the middle of

February, all cleaning done, any fresh branches put up, and the

zinc nest pans tied in their places. These pans I have made at

our ironmongers, they cost 6d. to 9d. each, and are shaped some¬

thing like a flower-pot saucer, but with a rounded bottom and a

more slanting edge. They can be made any size, will wash, and

are never worn out. Holes are punched at intervals round the



