Pt actical Bird-Keeping. — III. Pigeons and Doves. 199


young ones putting their beaks right inside that of the old bird

who pumps up the food from its crop. I never liked the idea of

feeding young birds from one’s lips, so I used to try and hand-

feed with a blunted and shaped quill toothpick, opening the beak

and forcing the food down the throat. Often it was a failure.

Young doves are very obstinate and zvill die, if they want to,

despite all you can do. Last summer, I was hand-rearing a little

Barbary only a day or two old. Its rightful place had been taken

by a small Brush Bronzewing, who, being smaller than its foster-

brother, was getting too little food and doing badly, so I took the

Barbary’s own young one away. It did wonderfully well, and

being very healthy wriggled about in my left hand as I fed it

with the toothpick, making it rather a work of patience, for it

lost as much food as it took. Suddenly it accidently pushed its

head between the base of the first and second finger of my left

hand, and the change in its attitude was instantaneous. It

thought my fingers round it zvas the enclosing parent's beak, and

its mouth opened very wide and it took the food almost faster

than I could put it in. After that things went gaily, I had no

more trouble of forcing an obstinate little beak open with the

toothpick, but had only to put its beak between my fingers when

it would wriggle and squeak for food, opening the beak very wide

and standing on tip toe in its excitement.


During the intervals of feeding, the little dove was kept in

a pot placed on the hot pipes in the greenhouse. A handful of

hay was put in the pot, some flannel on the top of the bird, and

over this a piece of perforated zinc to prevent the young one

jumping out. It soon knew my step and voice, and would at

once start squeaking, even if it could not see me, when I catne to

feed it.


The young Brush Bronzewing dying I put the Barbary

back with its parents ; they seemed very pleased, and at once

went to feed it. And now comes the strange part, instead of

thrusting its beak into that of the old bird, the young one just

opened its beak and squeaked. The cock Barbary retired quite

puzzled, and evidently consulted with the hen, for in some way

she made the young one understand, and shortly after I saw it

being fed in the natural way. It may have been partly the heat.



