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laces were very grateful, and the cock at once began to feed.

The Aurita, who was really a great coward, was no match for his

opponent on the higher level It was most amusing to watch the

Necklace cock guarding the hen on the nest. He would take up

his stand near her, and never for a moment take his eyes off his

enemy, who would come creeping up to him through the

branches. Suddenly there would be a raising of wings, and a

sharp interchange of blows, and the Aurita would invariably fly

off discomfited, leaving the victor triumphant. My doves are

fed on dari, a little hemp and rice, and a good deal of wheat.

They greatly enjoy cuttle fish bone, scraped with a knife into

very small pieces and placed in their grit pot. This diet seems

to suit them, for—-I do not say it in any boasting spirit—in the

last two years I have not had a single death or real case of ill¬

ness, save four very young birds which died in the nest. The

Necklaces have now eight very fine young ones, and would have

had many more, but that so many of the eggs got broken from

various causes. The parents are in splendid condition, but I

have separated them for the winter months.


I have found a trap-cage (a rough frame-work of wood

covered with wire netting), very useful for catching up the doves.

The food pan I place inside the cage, and if set a few days before¬

hand, the birds soon get used to it. The ends of the trap hinge

at the top, and are raised by a piece of strong cord fastened to

them, and passed through a hook screwed in a wooden support

that runs across the top of the aviary. The cord is then threaded

through the netting in the aviary front, and tied tightly to a

heavy weight some distance off outside. This keeps up the

ends of the trap, and when the birds go in to feed the string can

be loosened, and the doors closed, without alarming them by

coming too near ; thus they are caught quite easily. Doves are

very soon frightened, and an attempt to catch one in the hand,

generally ends with me, in terrifying them all, and the work of

months of trying to get them tame is undone in a few minutes,

added to this there is the risk of the birds injuring their wings

against the wires. When I caught the hen Necklace in the trap

she scarcely seemed to know she was a prisoner, and was quietly

carried, cage and all, down to my second aviary.


I must just mention my flight of Barbary Doves that fly

loose about the garden. They never wander far, and assemble

close to the house, at stated hours, three times a day, to be fed.

At night, all the year round, they all roost together in a large

pink hawthorn tree, quite despising a dovecote, erected for their



