a short Record of my Doves' doings. 303


Next comes my poor crippled Whitewing, with the joint of

one wing cut or broken off, and a deformed beak with the upper and

lower mandibles crossing each other after the manner of the Cross¬

bill. But he keeps in very fair condition, as besides grain I give

him soft food daily, made up of yolk of hard-boiled egg and biscuit,

moistened with a little water. Though he cannot fly he fights

gallantly, despite his limitations, with “Cheery,” who engages in

battle with him on the floor of the aviary. Sometimes I let my

poor Whitewing out in the garden where he struts about quite

proudly.


The rest of my pets consist of six small foreign doves, not

long since eight, but two that I had with me since 1904—a male

Picui and a male Talpacoti—unluckily escaped about five months

ago, to my great regret.


I remarked, with regard to the Talpacoti especially, that he

improved greatly both in plumage and spirits since I brought him out

here (Lisbon) and, curiously enough, his beak, which grew abnormally

long whilst he was in England, and required pretty frequent clipping,

never needed shortening since he came to this country. He became,

too, a much bolder and livelier bird than under the dull skies of

England. The change of climate does not seem to have made any

sensible difference in the case of the Picui, or of my pair of Zebras,

which throve well in Hanwell and also equally well in Lisbon.


Since residing here, I have acquired two so-called Emerald

Doves (Chalcopelia afra and Chalcopelia chalcospila), and one with

sapphire blue marking on his wings instead of green, and with the

tip of his beak bright coral red ; a handsome bird.


Lastly, I have a male Harlequin Dove, apparently perfect in

plumage, only with naked skin under his wings instead of feathers,

unsightly when they are raised, but otherwise not noticeable, nor

in any way affecting the bird’s health.


By a strange coincidence, the male true Emerald has the

same peculiarity, so that, instead of pairing him with my very

lovely female, I have put him in a separate cage with his fellow

sufferer, the Harlequin Dove.


The two fully adult cocks are fast friends, the Emerald even

going to the length of frequently feeding his companion from his



