Notes on the Maiden Dove.



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supposing that it would differ greatly from that of the Emerald

Dove, of which Von Heuglin writes :—“The pairing takes place

at the commencement of the rainy season, now one hears the

loud and flute-like cry, in other respects by far the most

extraordinary, which the males utter from the dry branch of a

thorn-tree. It sounds like duu-duu-duu-du-du-du-du and seems

at one time quite close and then to come from a great distance.

The nest is placed upon dwarf Acacias or Zizyphus bushes fre¬

quently only a few feet above the ground, and both near to the

trunk and in the outermost horizontal branches. It is con¬

structed of twigs, just as slightly as those of the other Doves,

and contains two small yellowish white eggs. Vierthaler dis¬

covered a nest in the hollow of a tree-trunk which had been

broken off.”


In 1905 Mr. Hamlyn imported nearly a dozen examples of

Cptiella and our member Mr. Housden being struck with their

beauty brought a very perfect pair home and showed them to

me : I purchased that pair and turned them out into one of my

aviaries ; Mr. Housden then bought a second pair for himself,

and I believe our Editor secured others. Although, as Russ

observes, the Maiden Dove is passably tame and not in the least

degree quarrelsome, it is undoubtedly about the most delicate of

all the Columbce. I purchased my pair on the 6th of September,

the female was taken ill in November and died before the end of

the year; I believe Mr. Housden had similar ill-luck with his,

and Mr. Seth-Smith was equally unfortunate. If these birds

could be imported early in the year, and turned into an outdoor

aviary for the summer and autumn, I feel satisfied that we should

get much better results; it is hard upon any birds to import them

in the autumn, and particularly such an autumn as we had in

1905 when the night-frosts began in September.


Up to the date of its partner’s death my cock bird had

never uttered a note ; but it was only about three days later that

I saw him on a branch quivering his half opened wings and

cooing away most vigorously : this was almost like adding insult

to injury, making one regret all the more the death of the

female. The songs of C. puella, C. afra , and T. tympanistria are

all remarkably similar, which is I think clear evidence of the



