on Bartlett's Bleeding-heart Pigeon. 2.27


others died immature and are now in the British Museum. O11

the remaining occasion the egg was addled. The bird I now

exhibit is the breeding female, which, unfortunately, died a short

time since; but as the old male has mated with another female,

and the young male likewise shows symptoms of wishing to pair,

there seems every prospect of continuing to propagate this

highly interesting species in our aviaries.” This pious wish only

seems to have been partially realized ; several specimens were

hatched in 1865 and one in 1867, after which the flock appears to

have died out, and the species has not been represented at the

Gardens since.


My pair reached me on 23rd July, 1907, from Mrs. Johnstone,

who had very kindly allowed me to have them. Three days later

I received the following most interesting letter from Mr. Walter

Goodfellow: “ Mrs. Johnstone writes me this morning that you

have purchased a pair of Bleeding Heart Doves from her and re¬

quests that I will give you any information that I can about them.

I fear that it is very little I can say ; I brought them to England

from Mindanao two years ago and believe they have always

enjoyed good health. They are by no means common in their

own country, and are very locally distributed around the somewhat

drier parts of the coast lands. I never shot any on either of my

expeditions to Mindanao, but I think I saw a pair on one occasion.

They are forest birds, but do not perch in the trees. You will

see they are far more beautiful than the ordinary Bleeding

Hearts. It is not at all likely that there are others in England

like them, for no birds come here from Mindanao or to anywhere

in Europe. I think I have brought over the only specimens of

these birds—two five years ago and three two years ago. Sir W.

Ingram had the first pair. One of these is still alive in Monte

Carlo. The other one of the last three got accidentally killed I

believe at Mrs. Johnstone’s. When I was bringing them home

one got into a very weak state, and a few scraps of raw meat a

day, which I gave it, quite pulled it round. I believe they seem

to have done perfectly well on seeds alone, but they used, when

I had them, to be very fond of a little soaked bread or soft food.”


The above letter contains all that I know about their wild

life; it is evident that they spend most of their time on the ground



