TURTLE-DOVES. 



267 



well conceive that, if the whole of the species could be 

 arranged in a natural linear series, the most nearly 

 related species being paired up from first to last, it 

 might be possible to unite the whole of the species of 

 Turtur in one bird. In The, Aviculturcd Magazine 

 Second Series, Vol. II., pp. 191-198, Mr. T. H. Newman 

 has published a very interesting paper " On Some 

 Turtle Dove Hybrids and their Fertility," and he sum- 

 marises the results at the end of his article showing 

 that hybrids between T. turtur and T. risorius, and 

 T. figrinits and T '. risorius, were perfectly fertile when 

 paired with T. risorius. I bred some hybrids between 

 T. tif/rinus and T. risorius, and subsequently I re- 

 ceived a hybrid, I think with T. humilis, which I gave 

 to a lady friend who possessed a number of T. risorius 

 (the white variety) ; when I last saw them there were 

 hybrids in several degrees of relationship between the 

 two forms I gave her a'nd the white Doves, proving 

 that there is practically no limit to the fertility of these 

 mixed types ; and, just as Mr. J. L. Bonhote succeeded 

 in uniting five distinct species of Ducks in one indi- 

 vidual, so, I feel convinced, might several (if not all) 

 of the species of Turtle Dove be combined. The 

 Turturince, or typical Turtle Doves, have a rather 

 broad tail, consisting of twelve feathers, and the upper 

 part of the tarsus is naked. Other characters which are 

 given are not even of generic importance, since they only 

 relate to coloration and marking. 



BABBART TURTLE DOVE (Turtur risorius). 



The prevailing colour of the cage form is a little 

 paler than the supposed wild original, its upper surface 

 being pinkish buff. The crown of the head, secondaries, 

 base of primaries, lateral tail-feathers, lower part of 

 abdomen, flanks and under tail-coverts bluish-grey ; a 

 black half-collar round the back and sides of the neck, 

 the under parts pale, the greater part of the primaries 

 dark brown ; under surface of tail blackish, with white 

 terminal band ; bill blackish ; feet deep flesh pink ; iris 

 crimson, orbital skin whitish. -Female practically in- 

 distinguishable from the male, the sexual differences 

 having, apparently, been bred out. 



The white form of the species, which Mr. Abrahams 

 informed me was produced by in-breeding, is much more 

 highly prized than the common type; dt has no black 

 collar, and its plumage is pure snow white, the bill 

 being flesh pink. Why this sport should be called 

 " White Java " it would be difficult to say ; but this 

 is the name under which it is usually exhibited at our 

 shows. As might be expected, it breeds freely with 

 the common variety, and the result is generally one chick 

 of each form. 



The origin of this Dove, which is analogous to the 

 Canary among Finches, is, according to Salvador!, 

 uncertain, some naturalists having assigned it (as a 

 fancy variation) to one species and some to another. 

 Being practically a fancy bird, it would have little in- 

 terest for the foreign bird-keeper were it not for its 

 usefulness in hatching the eggs and rearing the young 

 of shy breeders among foreign Doves. 



" The Collared Turtle or Laughing Dove " is the most 

 popular of all the family, simply from the fact that, up 

 to the present time, a pair can be obtained at almost 

 any bird-shop for about 3s., and that they are no 

 sooner established in a good-sized cage than they will 

 go to work to rear a family. 



The sneering laugh which the Barbary Turtle Dove 

 indulges in whenever it alights is amusing until one 

 becomes accustomed to it, and then it sometimes comes 

 in so opportunely as to be more or less irritating. After 



keeping and breeding the species for two or three years 

 I grew weary of its stupidity, and sold the birds for 

 what they would fetch. A friend of mine who took 

 five of them informed me that whenever he made an 

 extraordinary fluke at billiards the Doves were certain 

 to laugh, so that sometimes he felt almost inclined to 

 wring their necks. In order to breed them a pair should 

 be placed together in a cage about 2 ft. in height by 

 18 in. square, and a box about 2 in. deep and 6 in. 

 square half-filled with sawdust or bran should be hung 

 up in one corner near the top. No extra food is re- 

 quired, but a little old mortar or crushed cuttle-fish 

 should be sprinkled on the sand. In a very short time 

 two white eggs will be laid, incubated by cock and hen 

 alternately, the cock sitting all day, and in about 

 eighteen days the hideous naked squabs will leave the 

 shell and be greeted with the liveliest demonstrations 

 of satisfaction by the parents. No sooner are they 

 large enough to leave the nest than they make them- 

 selves such a nuisance to their parents, by racing after 

 them clamouring for food all the livelong day, that it 

 is hardly to be wondered at that, when able to feed 



WHITE BARBARY DOVE. 



themselves, the parents resent these incessant worries. 

 This is the signal for removing the young Doves to a 

 separate cage ; the old birds will then immediately set 

 about preparations for the second family. Of course, in 

 an aviary many pairs may be associated, always having 

 due regard to its size, and the multiplication will then 

 be very rapid. This species has been successfully paired 

 with the British Turtle Dove. I hoped, indeed, to try 

 the experiment myself, and having taken a fresh egg 

 from a Kentish nest, I carefully bedded it in sawdust, 

 brought it home, and substituted it for one of my 

 Collared Doves' eggs. Alas ! either it was unfertile, or 

 the jarring of the train had destroyed its life, for it 

 failed to hatch, and thus my intended experiment was 

 nipped in the bud. In its wild state a supposed pro- 

 genitor of this bird builds a platform of sticks for a 

 nest on trees or bushes, cypresses being selected in 

 preference to others. Being perfectly hardy, it can be 

 safely wintered in an outdoor aviary, and is all the 

 stronger for it (the same may be .said of many other 

 birds which are rendered liable to all kinds of diseases 

 by heat and coddling, the Canary being a striking 

 example of the delicate constitution thus developed). 

 Indoors in a warm building I found the Barbary Turtle 

 Dove liable to catarrh, accompanied by a cough, lassi- 

 tude, ruffled feathers, and want of appetite. The cold 



