FEEDING AND CARE OP THE YOUNG. 69 



"Hence the practice of employing 'feeders' or nurses, which are necessary to all fanciers of the 

 'high-class' varieties, and to which the young are transferred when a few days old to be reared, 

 only being left long enough with their own parents to ' feed off the soft food,' which would other- 

 wise make them sick and cause the hen to be much longer in laying again than if allowed to feed 

 young for a few days. The young require to be left with the old birds, in general from 6 to 8 days, 

 in order to relieve them of their soft food, when they should be shifted to the feeders. But in shifting, 

 one caution is very necessary, viz, not to shift to old birds which have hatched before the young 

 ones it is desired to rear. Should this be done, the young will in all probability perish, through the 

 food now supplied being too ' hard ' or too far advanced for them, in conformity with what we have 

 already explained as to the gradual change in its character, by increasing mixture with grain, which 

 the young can not digest till the proper age. On the contrary, should the feeders have hatched three 

 or four days after the breeding-birds it will be all the better, and do the young a great deal of good, 

 since nothing brings on a young pigeon so well as this extra allowance of soft food." 



"Another caution may be necessary. We have seen how easily, in the case of most pigeons, the 

 young may be 'shifted' at almost any time desired within a fortnight; and pigeons will also take to 

 and sit upon other eggs than their own; but it will not answer to give to any pair eggs partly hatched, 

 unless laid at the same time as their own, and therefore due to hatch at the same date. The reason 

 is obvious; the eggs hatching before the ordinary time of incubation is expired, there is no soft food 

 ready for the young, and they must therefore perish. One day or perhaps two does not matter; but 

 success when the shifted eggs have been sat upon more than this is very doubtful." 



VOICE. 



FOOD-CALL OF YOUNG. 



The call for food in the bronze-wing is a cry resembling that of young pigeons in gen- 

 eral a sort of mild whistle given in a beseeching manner, from a fraction of a second to a 

 second and a half long, and varying in loudness and shrillness according to the eagerness 

 for food. In general, the manner is very deliberate and free from the excitement and hurry 

 shown by common pigeons. If the young does not get the attention of the old bird, it may 

 stop in front of the parent and give a few of the polite bows so characteristic of the old 

 bird. The young bows with the same motion as the adult, and quite or nearly to the floor. 

 It is a comical thing to see this bow from a bird only 2 weeks old, and before it has had 

 any opportunity to learn from the parents. The call is repeated at varying intervals 

 and is often continued for some minutes. 



As just noted above, the call of the young for food is very calmly delivered, but with 

 earnestness, and no flurry or scramble as in common pigeons. If the old bird, after giving 

 the young a taste, walks off, the latter looks earnestly for more, but does not rush and 

 flap its wings against the old bird; it moves towards the old bird with a slow, hesitating 

 step, lifting its wings only a little and wagging them slowly up and down as if pleading, 

 and it again gives the beseeching whistle as it approaches. 



When the old bird first approaches the young to feed them, these welcome him with 

 their affectionate and pleasing little twitter the "whistle" broken into a ripple of few 

 or many sounds; these are generally low, but the same sound may be quite loud. A good 

 demonstration of this loud whistle was obtained in the following instance. A young 

 bronze-wing escaped, but came back and alighted on the top of its old pen. Here it sat 

 looking down at its mate and the old bird, whistling loud to get back. The whistle was 

 delivered with the beak quite wide open, and sometimes it was broken into a twitter, the 

 whole frame seeming to shake at the sound. The voice of the young reminds one of the 

 voice of the sandpiper. The wing-movements of the young, when appealing to the old 

 birds for more food, are the same as those given in conjunction with the nest-call by the 



adult male. 



FOOD-CALL OF ADULT BRONZE-WING. 



A female bronze-wing came several times to the near (feeding) side of her cage, at about 

 3 p. m., and gave a peculiar little grunt of impatience for lack of food. This was about 

 the time for her to return to the nest for the night, and there was no seed in her dish; she 

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