270 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



pure white, smooth, and rounded oval in shape ; they 

 measure 1.20 by .95." 



My friend, Mr. Frank Finn, gave me a pair of these 

 Doves in the spring of 1893, and I tinned them out into 

 an aviary with two Knglish Starlings and a Mocking 

 Bird. I K:-ed up a hamper lid near the roof in one 

 corner, and they soon commenced to lay, and continued 

 to do so from time to time until 1 parted from them. 

 Unfortunately, constant interruptions, due to the play- 

 fulness of my Mocking Bird and the terrified rushes of 

 the Starlings to escape him. kept the unfortunate Doves 

 from sitting in peace ; so that all the eggs got either 

 broken or addled. Eventually. I exchanged them for 

 other biids in 1895. In 1899 Major llorsbrugh brought 

 home a batch from West Africa, and I became possessed, 

 through his kindness, of a second "pair"; these I 

 turned into an outdoor aviary, and a year or two later 

 into ;i fowl-run adjomin ixown into the said 



aviary). Here one of them died on the 12th November, 

 1902, and was identified by the British Museum 

 authorities as Tur/.nr decipiens; the other escaped, 

 together with two examples of Geopelia /II///K ra/i.<. my 

 servant having entered the run to feed the fowls and 

 left the door open behind her. 



The London Zoological Gardens first exhibited three 



inens of this species in 1870, since which date 



many specimens have been added to the Ivegcnt'.s Park 



i lull. 



Mr. T. II. Xeuman has published a lung and interest- 

 ing arti'-lo on this Dove in Tin- Aviculturcd M<I<I 

 Second Series, Vol. V., pp. 318-324. 



DKI T.I-TIVK TniTLE-DovK (Tiirttir decipiens). 



Above pale earth-brown, slightly tinged with 

 vinaceous on the front of the mantle, darker from the 

 centre, of bark posteriorly; bastard-wing brownish- 

 black, partly .-date-grey on outer web-;; flights brownish- 

 black, darkest on outer webs ; outer wing-coverts, 

 excepting the primary-coverts, which are brownish- 

 black, pearl-grey, more or less tinned with brown and 

 with paler edges ; lateral tail-feathers slaty-blackish on 

 basal half, pale brown shaded with grey and becoming 

 gradually paler from within outwards, the outermost 

 feather.- Icing broadly grey whitish at tips ; trout of 

 head ashy, bluer at centre of crown, then shaded with 

 vinous at the back of all the feathers and becoming 

 quite vinous on the back and sides of neck and the 

 'mast: sides of head grey war-hrd with vinous; no 

 black feathers in front of the eyes; chin and centre 

 of throat white; a black half-collar, partly edged with 

 grey-whitish in front, at back of neck ; .sides of rump 

 ami of abdomen leaden-grey, the latter faintly tinged 

 with brownish ; centre of abdomen whitish ; under tail- 

 coverts pearl-grey with whiter borders; under wing- 

 coverts leaden-grey; basal half of tail In-low black; 

 terminal half pale pearl-grey, becoming gradually 

 lighter towards the tips; bill apparently slaty-blackish ; 

 feet red ; irides probably brown; orbital ring orange.* 

 Female probably a trifle smaller and with whiter fore- 

 head. Hab., " Dongola." (Salvadori.) 



Possibly Count Salvador! might regard this as 

 '/'. aiiih'njiiii* : but he himself says of the latter : " It is 

 quite possible that a good series of specimens will show 

 that T. nii/hii/uii*. Hoc., is not different from true 

 T. di'i-i ii'n a*, the former being only somewhat smaller 

 and more grey on the sides of the head or cheeks ; but 

 T find that in two specimens from Sobat (Kin'ui 7V* //</) 

 .... the amount of grey on the cheeks is rather 



* Described from a male example identified as this species at 

 the British Museum; it differs very slightly from Salvadori's 

 description, which was based upon a single example. 



variable, and although the difference in size seems con- 

 stant, I do not think it is sufficient to indicate specific 

 difference." Hab.. "Zambesi. 1',-nguela. and Sobat 

 River, at about 9 deg. X. lat." (Salvador!.) 



Heugljn says (" Ornithologie Nord-Ost Africas," Vol. 

 I., p. 8^3) : " It lives, as a resident bird, in pairs and 

 in small and larger flocks ; preferably on thorny acacias 

 and Nabag-hees. Its note is just as loud, and like a 

 mocking laugh, as that of Tin-fur semi tor quatus. At 

 the wells of the Bainda Desert in October we came 

 across vast flocks of this laughing Dove. It is not timid, 

 and is fond of visiting the encampments of the caravans, 

 where it -searches for food in the manure. Its food 

 consists besides in seeds of grasses, mai/.e in tin- 

 berries and fruits of /izi//>/iit.<. Mjirnn/a. and the like." 



As previously stated, an example given to me by 

 Major llorsbrugh was identified as T . decipiens 1. 

 authorities at the Natural History Museum ; so also 

 was a specimen received by Miss Aid . The 



Avicultural Magazine. Second Series. Vol. I., p. 237). 

 In May, 1906, Mr. Meade-Waldo presented six 'examples 

 to the London Zoological Gardens, and doubtless others 

 have, from time to time, been confounded with T. 

 semitorquatU8. 1 believe Mr. T. II. Newman ha> 

 had this Dove. 



DOUBLE-RINGED TTJRTLE-DOVK (Turti/r //;/<, r<[ita>u*). 



Above mostly earth-brown ; outer wing-coverts leaden 

 grey ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and flights 

 brownish-black ; lateral tail-feathers bluish-grey, darker 



towards the base, the outer feathers with the entire 

 outer web bluish-grey; crown grey, paler in front; chin 

 whitish ; sides of head, neck, and breast rich vinous, 

 fading to white on lower abdomen, vent, and under 

 tail-coverts; a broad black collar, edged in front with 

 white, on hind neck; under win ,nd flanks 



leaden-grey; tail below black on" basal and whitish- 

 grey on terminal half; bill black, red at base u gape; 

 feet coral-red; iris orange-yellow; orbital ring led. 

 Female nrobably with -the forehead paler than in the 

 male. Hab.. ".Java. Lombock. Sumbawa, Flores, 

 Solor, and Timor." (Salvadori.) 



Mr. Frank Fina (Tlir Jl,i*. 1901. p. 443) speaks of 

 so great a number of this species being imported into 

 Calcutta as cage-birds that they were quite a drug in 

 the market. 



I have not come across any notes respecting the 

 wild life of this bird, nor does Ituss quote any in his 

 work, lie says: "It is only rarely imported alive; in 

 the year 1839 it arrived in the Amsterdam, and in the 

 year 1863 in the London, Zoological Gardens. In 

 Germany, the chemist Landaner b. 1 it. and 



in the year 1883 Bode, of Leip/ig. imported it ; 

 then it has always come to hand here and then- 

 singly." The last example recorded in the ninth 

 edition of the "List of Animals" as having found its 

 May to the Regent's Park Gardens was presented in 

 November, 1894. 



CAPE TURTLE-DOVE (Turtur capicola). 



Upper surface mostly greyish-brown, changing io 

 leaden grey on outer upper wing-COverts and sides of 

 lower back and rump ; primary-coverts and flights 

 blackish, with pale narrow edges ; central tail-feathers 

 browner, the lateral feathers black on basal half, grey 

 on terminal half of inner feathers and white on < 

 ones; crown leaden-grey, pa lei' on the forehead, 

 changing to vinous-grey on sides of head, neck and 

 chest: front of cheeks and throat grey; a more or less 

 denned black loral line; a broad black collar, partially 

 edged in front and behind with grey, on the hind neck ; 



