i8 Practicai. Bird-Keeping. 



identification. Setting, therefore, the Fruit Pigeons aside, as 

 birds almost unknown in English aviaries, a fact much to be 

 deplored, we come to the 



Typical Pigeons {Cohmibidis.) 



The Triangular Spotted Pigeon {Columb a guinea). 

 A large bird, slate grey in colour, with a reddish neck of 

 bifid feathers, the wings are dotted with triangular white spots. 

 This pigeon's coo is a strange kind of barking noise, sounding 

 almost unnatural in a bird. The eye is red, surrounded with 

 bare red skin. 

 The Spot- Winged (or Spotted) Pigeon {Cohimba maculosa). 



A large, but beautifully-shaped bird ; the general colour 



being pearl and ashy grey, the wings covered with whitish spots. 



The eye is also grey, and the " bloom " on the neck and shoulders 



of a well-conditioned bird is very lovely. I look on this pigeon 



as almost the most beautiful of any of the larger varieties I have 



known. 



The White Crowned Pigeon {Columba Icticocephala). 



A handsome dark slate bird, with a whitish cap on the 



head and a sheen of colour, like the scales of a mackerel, on the 



neck. 



All the above birds are too large to keep in a small aviary 



with other occupants, though they might do well if given an 



aviary entirely to one pair of birds. I have found all these 



pigeons hardy and all good-tempered to others of their own kind. 



We now come to the Turtle Doves and their allies {Fejis- 

 ietidcB), beginning with the sub-family ZenaidiiicB. 



Martinican or Aurita Dove. {^Zenaida aiirita). 



A plump, well-shaped dove ; the general colour being rich 

 chestnut fading into purplish-pink on the breast. There are a 

 few black and white spots on the wings, and the neck has very 

 beautiful purple and gold reflections. The eye is full and dark. 

 The Aurita is a very handsome dove and easy to breed, but its 

 great drawback is its aggressive ways to others of its kind, and 

 being a very bold bird it soon becomes master of the situation. 

 It is very common in Jamaica. 

 The White-winged Zenaida Dove {Melopelia leucoptcra). 



This bird is about the same size as the Aurita, but rathe 



