THE CAMS A FAN TURTLE. 273 



A second brood soon followed, and before these were 

 altogether able to feed themselves, a third, and during 

 the first week of the lives of these last a sad accident 

 took place that widowed the Cambayan and left the 

 callow Dovelets depending on his sole care. 



Upon entering the aviary one morning I found the 

 poor mother lying, stiff and cold, with out-spread wings, 

 on the ground below the nest, and a subsequent exam- 

 ination of the remains showed that she had been ac- 

 cidentally choked while in the act of feeding one of the 

 little ones. These were so young I scarcely expected 

 them to live, but their father behaved nobly and fin- 

 ished bringing them up alone. 



I afterwards tried to get him another mate, but failed, 

 for of several Barbary Doves that I bought as females, 

 not one was really a hen, and fierce fighting between 

 the birds was the consequence of each mistake. 



Two of the hybrids were shown at the Crystal 

 Palace, but as they were the first of the kind that had 

 ever been seen there, they were, of course, ignored by 

 the "judges," who only noticed what they knew. How- 

 ever, someone bought them at the upset price (fifteen 

 shillings, I think) and I subsequently also disposed of 

 the other four, one of which at least, as I subsequently 

 heard, laid a number of eggs that were all barren, thus 

 proving the Doves to be sterile hybrids and not mon- 

 grels, which would have been fertile. 



Failing in all my attempts to get a hen for the Cam- 



18 



