On the Habits in Captivity of the Brush Bronzewing Pigeon. 263



NOTES ON THE HABITS IN CAPTIVITY OF THE

BRUSH BRONZEWING PIGEON.


Phaps elegans.


By D. Seth-Smith, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U.


('Continued from page 214).


Of the pair of young birds hatched on or about March

18th, one died on April 15th, but the other, though rather a

weak bird for some time, managed to pull through all right, and

is now quite a fine bird, and just assuming the adult male

plumage, at the age of about ten weeks.


The three young birds about which I have now written,

and of which unfortunately one only has been reared to

maturity, were hatched in the midst of very artificial surround¬

ings, and too early in the year. I should have done wisely had

I compelled the birds to wait until the warm weather and long

days had arrived before commencing nesting operations, for

without these it is difficult if not impossible to rear strong

young birds, as I now know, even though the aviary be kept at

a genial temperature.


On the 15th of April the hen Elegans was put out with

the second cock, an even finer bird than the first, into a large

open aviary, in which vegetation is allowed to grow in profusion,

and where things are more in accordance with the natural

surroundings of the Brush Bronzewing Pigeons. From this

time onward matters went ahead without a hitch. On the 26th

of the same month an egg was laid, and followed by another the

next day, and incubation was carried out in earnest. O11 May

12th I discovered an egg-shell from which a young Bronzewing

had evidently just emerged. Two remarkably fine young birds

left the nest, strong fliers, on June 3rd, and were seen to

pick up seeds for themselves a week later. These two young

birds, hatched and reared under conditions closely approximating

those to which they would be subject in a state of nature, could

fly as strongly when just over three weeks old as the first

youngster, reared under artificial conditions, could at double

that age. The old birds have another nest and are sitting well.



