322 Mr. T. H. Newman,


branch quite eight feet from the ground. On this day the second

young one (hatched on the 18th June) flew. It seemed quite as

strong on the wing as the other one, for a day or two it had been

sitting on edge of nest. The young birds were now about the

size of full-grown Barbary Doves ; they were well feathered,

though showing a little bare skin under the wings, which were

very rounded looking, owing to the outer primaries not being so

well developed as the rest ; tail about two inches long ; iris just

beginning to turn colour from the brown of the early stage ; skin

round the eye grey; feet dark grey with faint tinge of purple ;

bill dark grey with slight purple tinge, most of the smaller

feathers retaining yellow nest down at end of feathers, especially

on breast, very noticeable on back and upper tail-coverts, very

little on head ; the young appeared unusually well furnished with

yellow down when hatched. July 6th, first young one flying

about as strongly as an old bird, very wild, went to roost beside

its foster parents on high branch ; the other young did not leave

neighbourhood of nest to which it had returned of its own accord.

24th July, the birds being between five and six weeks old, both

beginning to moult, grey feathers coming on top of head, also

vinous ones on back of head and breast ; feathers nearly full grown

round base of bill ; grey skin round eye beginning to turn purple ;

iris a narrow ring of dull orange. The bird hatched on the 18th

of June was now considerably the larger and more advanced bird,

but showed no black collar on hind neck, which was however

showing quite distinctly in the one hatched on the 17th.


Here I may compare these birds reared during the present

3 r ear. The young bird in first feather differs very markedly

from the adult, the entire head and breast are of a warm chest-

nut shade ; the former showing no trace of the handsome grey

crown, nor the latter a vestige of the beautiful vinous pink of the

adult ; the feathers of the upper surface are edged with chestnut,

though some young birds are more uniformly coloured than

others, the primaries are edged with very conspicuous broad

chestnut tips and the black collar is absent. Beginning with the

youngest, which is just five weeks old, it is still entirely in nest

plumage, though it shows signs of just being on the point of

commencing to moult. The skin round the eye is grey with a



