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wire must be turned in so as not to injure the birds in anyway.

The branches are usually renewed twice a year, in spring and

autumn, and are wired several feet clear of the ground. Some¬

times, if heavy, they require wiring in one or two places. By

keeping the boughs well off the ground it gives more floor room,

and also hinders mice from easily running up them.


I find, too, that Doves usually prefer to nest high up, often

almost close to the roof. The branches should not be all fastened

in the same place, but in different parts of the aviary, and I

always help and arrange with the fixing of them myself.


Doves are strange birds, and you will find many of them

have one special bough for roosting on, and if another bird comes

near it quarrelling will ensue, so it is best to put the branches in

different corners. Doves are noted for their fragile nests, some

of them so frail that the eggs can be plainly seen through the

bottom, and it is a wonder the structure holds together. Some

few years ago I learnt wicker basket making, and I have found

it come in most usefully in making shallow nest-holders (shaped

like a large saucer) for my Doves to build in. These baskets are

easily fixed to the branches by passing string through the wicker

in several places, and I find the birds appreciate these nests

very much, and seldom build except in one of them. After the

nesting season is over the baskets are taken down and well

washed, and put away until required again. With care they will

last for years. Doves delight in a particular kind of dead

heather to build their nests with, and every year I get several

bundles in good time for the nesting season, from a lad named

Hiscock, of Ashley, Ringwood, Hants. The heather should be

separated before being given to the birds, care being taken that

the pieces are not too long.


It is very pretty to watch the cock Dove carrying up the

heather, whilst his lady 7 sits proudly in the nest, and tucks each

piece in as he brings it. He is very critical, and it is

amusing to see how he will pick up bits of heather and then

toss them aside again and again until he finds a piece that

pleases him. Both birds look so happy and important, as if for

the time being they had quite forgotten their liberty and their

home across the sea. The amount of heather a single pair of

birds will use for their nest is really astonishing. In keeping

Doves, as indeed with any other bird, if you want to succeed you

must study their little way's, however eccentric they may seem,

or you cannot hope for good results. I have found it a good

plan to observe which is your pair of birds’ favourite bough ;



