CHAPTER LVI. 



I His is a remarkably fine bird, and one of the most 

 interesting that I have ever kept. It has a noble 

 appearance, too, and is almost as big as the Wood 

 Pigeon. The head is bluish-grey, the back chocolate- 

 brown and the throat and breast greyish-vinous-red; 

 the legs and feet are vermilion. 



The male and female are much alike but the latter 

 is somewhat the smaller of the two, and both have the 

 characteristic black band on the back of the lower third 

 of the neck that is common to the whole of the Turtle 

 sub-family. 



The first pair of these birds that I had were given 

 to me, and not knowing anything about them, except 

 that they were said to be natives of some part of 

 Africa, I concluded, naturally enough, that they were 

 delicate and would require to be kept very warm in- 

 doors, so I put them in the largest cage I had at my 

 disposal, and there they moped all day, sitting with 

 their heads retracted into their breast, closed eyes and 



