on some Wild Pet Doves.



26;,



The gentle harmless Dove is a mythical bird. No birds

are fiercer in the breeding-season than the Doves. I used to

keep my Doves in a large flight aviary; I have kept Java,

Barbary, Common Turtle Doves, Bronzewings, Zebra Doves and

Cambayan Turtle Doves, the last-named, to my mind, the loveliest

of all ; but, like all birds, they are never so interesting as when

loose, as their characters do not develop as when they have to a

large extent to fend for themselves. The Cambayan Turtle

Doves have never left the garden, but many Ring Doves have

flown away, no doubt to other gardens with more attractive trees.

It is during the nesting-time when they fly off, pursued by their

rivals. I began keeping the Cambayan Turtle Doves in an

aviary, but, like all Turtle Doves, they were so restless and chafed

so at their captivity that I let them out. A Japanese gentleman

who was here and watched them flying about said they would

never leave their home, like the Ring Doves do. They abound

in Japan. And so it has proved. For years they have lived here,

every Spring nesting about in the trees, in ivy, or in an old yew-

hedge, and come ever}’ morning and afternoon to be fed. Just

now they are in beautiful plumage, the golden sheen on their wings

is very brilliant, and the apricot colour of their necks very rich

and pure. They are quite friendly with the Ring Doves, and feed

out of the same wooden bowl. If they are annoyed, they make a

buzzing noise like a large blue-bottle, and their cooing sounds

absurdly patronizing and affected, accompanied by a succession

of such rapid little bows that you could not count them. The

cock is especially cruel to the hen in the Spring, preventing her

feeding, like the Ring Doves.


It is very pretty to watch a flight of Ring Doves in early

Summer chasing each other in play round and round the garden.

They love to get the wind under their wings. When they build

they collect little sticks in their beaks and fly to the nest-site,

where the mate waits to receive and adjust them to form the

very slender nest. The Barbarys and Javas come indoors and

assert their right to the house, flying up on to a wardrobe in

a bedroom to build there, and much resenting being turned out.

Their young perch on people’s hats and on the dog’s back, and

scramble on to the tea-table to get at the cake,—thoroughly



