THE CAPE DOVE. 245 



their native country I cannot pretend to say, for I 

 have never been there, but in an aviary in our own 

 island, nothing could be better behaved than they are. 

 Not that the Cape Dove cannot hold its own, in a 

 general way, for it mostly can; but, as far as I have 

 been able to determine it never interferes either with 

 other Doves or with the members of its own particular 

 family circle, although the latter may be an extended one. 



These birds appear to pair for life, and are devotedly 

 attached to each other, spending much of their time 

 in mutual feeding and endearments. 



The nest, at least in an aviary, is a very slight affair 

 indeed, consisting of a few sprays of heather or tufts 

 of grass loosely piled together on any convenient spot, 

 such as the deserted nest of one of the larger kinds of 

 Doves, an agglomeration of sticks laid by the owner 

 among the boughs of a "Christmas-tree," on a flat 

 palm-like branch, or on the lid of a fruit or other 

 basket, the preference being usually given to the last- 

 named situation, probably as affording a surer foundation 

 for the nest than any of the other natural or artificial 

 arrangements of twigs, &c., already mentioned. 



As happens with most of the members of the family, 

 the Cape Dove, also known by the names of Masked 

 and Harlequin Dove, lays two white eggs about the 

 size of those of a Lark, but rounder, and the young 

 are, usually, male and female, which mate together 

 when adult, and pass the remainder of their lives in 



