14s



Notes on my Birds.



altogether, and a very pretty picture they make. I have never seen

two Bleeding Hearts quite, alike, they may look so to a casual ob¬

server, but to an owner they are each a little different; just as they

say no two sheep in a flock are alike. In one bird the “heart”

will be a little larger, in another perhaps smaller, a third bird has

longer legs, in a fourth the grey on each side of the breast nearly

meets at the throat. Bleeding Hearts are very restless birds

keeping on the ground and walking to and fro perpetually ; they

seldom go into the branches save to roost at night. When the

cocks coo they throw themselves right back, almost resting on

the tail, and puff out the breast and “ heart ” to quite an imposing

size. It is a study in itself to see the different attitudes doves

assume when cooing. If you watch them you will notice they

always display the gayest part of their plumage. One will bare

the head to show the neck, another spread the tail and wings

fan shape, or, again, lean backwards like the Bleeding Heart.

These doves get very tame if coaxed with some special tit-bit,

and I believe would soon learn to feed out of one’s hand. They

are especially fond of meal worms (though many are not good for

them) and, like most of my doves, like ground biscuit and ground

monkey nuts. I have bred the Bleeding Heart before now and

the young ones are very pretty little things : soft chocolate brown

in colour, with buff bars across the wings and just a tiny red line

down the breast to show you where the “heart” is coming by-

and-bye. To be successful in breeding Bleeding Hearts you

must only put one pair in each house. They live happily to¬

gether in numbers, but when more than two are in an aviary

they seem to lose the desire to start nesting seriously.


Besides these doves I have a quantity of little birds in this

aviary, but nothing of special interest, except perhaps a little

Cactus Conure, whose quaint postures and grimaces always

amuse visitors. He will eat from my hand, but is rather lonely,

for he had two companions and these are both dead, and the}''

were a most devoted trio. “Jock,” the remaining bird, is always

demanding attention, and if he can get anyone to talk to him and

notice him he is wild with delight, but he is rather treacherous

and will bite your finger quite as readily as he will take your

biscuit. As a rule his temper is merely show, but once or twice



