40 



MY FOREIGN DOVES AND PIGEONS. 



September and October the flesh of the White- 

 crowned (or Baldpate) has an "exquisite flavour." 

 This bird feeds largely on berries, and so many as 

 thirty pigeons were observed eating on one tree. 

 They feed twice a day, early in the morning and 

 late in the afternoon, flying often over 20 to 30 

 miles of sea to the feeding grounds. The White 

 Crowned breeds in thousands on the many little 

 islands, returning to the mainland to feed. 

 The nest is built in bushes, about 3 or 4 feet 

 from the ground, and is flimsy in structure. The 

 general time of nesting is in June, and in August 

 shooting parties go out to destroy the birds. 



Mr. Bonhote mentions that this pigeon is not met 

 with in winter in the Bahamas, but whether they 

 are migratory or hide in the thickest bush he does 

 not know. In Cuba the White Crowned is said to 

 be a resident species and very common. It 

 frequents the forests throughout the year, and 

 collects in large flocks when the berries are ripe ; 

 being gregarious, many birds will nest in the 

 same tree. 



LIFE IN CAPTIVITY. 



The White Crowned pigeon is a very fine 

 imposing-looking bird, but too large to be kept in 

 a small aviary. Mr. Seth-Smith found it very 

 wild, even a male bird bred in captivity in Jamaica, 

 catching the wild fever from the hen. I have only 

 kept a few specimens, but cannot sa}' I found this 

 the case ; but all birds vary, and I fancy some of 

 my White-crowned pigeons, though sent to me 

 from their own country, had been kept in aviaries 

 before. The friend who sent me them said that 

 one of these birds was so good-natured it would 

 even let a tiny Passerine dove try to bully it, 

 the White-crowned regarding the little mite's 

 onslaughts with good-tempered indifference. One 

 of the chief beauties of this handsome pigeon is its 

 lovely neck, which always reminds me of the scales 

 of a mackerel. Against its snowy crown and rich 

 leaden-grey body the effect is very striking, and the 

 fine upright carriage of the bird adds to its noble 

 appearance. 



Although Mr. Seth-Smith's birds were so wild 

 they soon started to nest, the first two nests each 

 containing one egg, which in both cases hatched, 

 the young birds being deserted when a fortnight 

 old, and subsequently dying. The two eggs of the 

 third nest were hatched under tame pigeons and 

 shared the same fate, the foster parents declining 

 to go on feeding just when the young White- 

 crowned were nearly able to fly. 



After so many disappointments it is pleasant to 

 read that three young ones were reared later, the 

 first nest (with one young bird) being built in a 

 quiet corner in some faggots, about 4 feet from the 

 ground. This bird was very wild, the two later 



hatched ones being not quite so timid ; these latter 

 were evidently a pair, for one was darker than the 

 other and had a lighter cap. The first reared 

 young bird was nearly as large as its parents when 

 it left the nest, and was a dirty brownish-grey all 

 over ; there was no white on the crown, though 

 it was a lighter shade than the rest of the body. 



In the before-mentioned "Birds of Jamaica" 

 Gosse gives a most interesting account of some 

 White-crowned pigeons that he kept when quite 

 )'oung birds. He says they were both "exceed- 

 ingly ugly ; long-necked, thin-bodied, the head not 

 well rounded, the fleshy part of the beak promi- 

 nent, and its base unfeathered. The whole 

 plumage was blackish ash coloured, each feather 

 slighth' tipped with paler, and the feather of the 

 head terminating in little curled grey filaments, 

 which added to the uncouth appearance of the 

 birds." 



These pigeons became very playful ; they were 

 kept in a large packing-box that had been lined 

 with paper, and this they delighted in stripping 

 off with their beaks, or in pulling at the threads 

 in a darn in the gauze front of their cage. One 

 would pretend to rob a White-fronted dove of some 

 orange pips (that were specially put down for the 

 latter's benefit), but would drop them again if he 

 succeeded in getting one. This White-crowned 

 would alwa3's take a grain of corn from Mr. 

 Gosse 's hand, even if he did not eat it, and would 

 seize his finger, when he put it through the gauze, 

 and try to play with it most vigorously, sometimes 

 quite inverting the head. Mr. Gosse noted that 

 his birds cooed much towards the end of the year, 

 and often during the night, especially in January, 

 when the winds from the north raged about the 

 house. 



The White-crowned pigeon was kept at the Zoo 

 in 1865, and bred there the following year and 

 many times later. The price of an imported pair 

 is about 20/-. 



THE RUFOUS PIGEON. 



{Columha Riifina). 



Habitat. — Guatemala, down to Columbia, 

 Guiana, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru. 



Length. — About 12 inches. Shape, long and 

 heavy, with rather short thick legs. 



Colouring. — Adult male — Forehead purple, back 

 of crown and upper neck rich metallic blue green, 

 lower neck purple (the line between this colour and 

 the metallic blue-green being very clearly defined), 

 upper breast purple, the upper wings and shoulders 

 red purple, the lower wings olive, the long 

 wing quills blackish, back and rump dark grey, 

 tail blackish grey. The lower breast rather lighter 



