Correspondence.



345



■ The Zebra Doves, Cutthroats, and Diamond Finches are breeding always,

and Mrs. Green Cardinal is for the third time the proud possessor of four beauti¬

ful eggs.


The most beautiful of all birds in my opinion is the delicate little mouse¬

like Bearded Tit, but unfortunately I cannot keep them.


There are several evergreen shrubs in the aviary, and in one of these the

Cordon Bleus are now nesting. Besides these shrubs I hang up many branches,

some without foliage and others of evergreens. There are earthenware basins,

which are filled twice or three times daily, in which the birds indulge at all hours

in free mixed bathing,


Altogether they are a very happy friendly family and give continual

delight to all our visitors. LILIAN NEWALL.


WILD TURTLE-DOVES NESTING IN AN AVIARY.


SIR,—In an orchard aviary we have several Barbary Doves—once loose

about the garden, but bird-catchers have forced us to cage them now,—and

these are perpetually laying and hatching, and with them in the aviary lives a

pair of common English Turtle-Doves, which have mated after being in the

aviary for years. The hen ever since I had her has been unable to fly, from a

weakness in her legs, but is otherwise healthy. The cock is younger, and arrived

on the scene two or three years later. He used to bow and “ gurr ” to her, but

his courting obviously bored her, and boredom is fatal to courtship ! Last month

I threw a handful of long grass into the aviary. Two days after, a little round

grass mat appeared in one corner on the ground, and the hen sat on it. I gave

them more grass, and the nest grew and became more cup-shaped. Now the

pair are taking turns in sitting on two eggs of which they seem very proud.

When I appear with the doves’ food, and the cock is on, he gets off at once, and

runs up to his mate and says ‘' Tchup ! ” which sounds exactly like a sneeze.

She goes to take his place, but, I can see, finds it a little difficult to cover the

eggs, on account no doubt of her infirmity.


They and the Barbary’s are quite friendly together, except when the latter

go too near the nest, when the cock Turtle Dove “fizzes ” at them with the

curious little angry note so like a Jew’s harp.


The colouring of the bright brown and soft grey of the -Turtles as they sit

by turns in their green nest under the nut trees, is quite lovely. We are curious

to see whether the young will be safely hatched, and whether the weakness of

the hen will be in any way inherited, that is if it is constitutional.


* * *


Since writing the above, a mysterious fatality has occurred with regard to

the wild Turtle Dove’s cherished eggs. Suddenly they disappeared ! The aviary

is rat and mouse-proof in every part, except a stretch of wire-netting near the

door, which is f-inch mesh, not J-inch, and therefore not mouse-proof. Could

mice have devoured the eggs? Only then they would have left the shells. The

poor Doves ran about with startled eyes hunting for their eggs, and for several



