46 



MY FOREIGN DOVES AND PIGEONS. 



THE MADAGASCAR TURTLE-DOVE. 



{Tiirtuf Picturatus). 



Habitat. — Madagascar. ■ It has also apparently 

 been introduced into the surrounding islands, 

 namely, Reunion, Mauritius, Seychelles. 



Length. — Between ii and 12 inches. Shape, 

 strongly built, but well proportioned. 



Colouring. — Dark grey head, paler on the chin ; 

 mantle and upper neck rich maroon purple, faintly 

 speckled with small dark spots ; upper wings 

 rufous brown, lower half of wings olive brown, 

 long wing quills blackish with lighter edges, lower 

 back olive brown also. Breast light vinous, under 

 parts whitish, under tail feathers black and white, 

 upper tail feathers brown. Beak light grey, basal 

 half pinkish grey. Eye rich ruby, naked skin 

 round eye dark red, feet crimson. Hen very 

 similar to the male, but smaller and duller. 



WILD LIFE. 



These doves are said to be very common in 

 Madagascar, where they are found in the planta- 

 tions and cultivated fields in small flocks of 6 to 8. 

 They walk well, and fly rapidly without noise, and 

 can turn quickly if pursued. They make great 

 ravages in the rice fields, both at the time of sow- 

 ing and harvest, being largely grain eaters. The 

 nest is flatly and roughly made of grasses and 

 small roots, and is placed in low-growing trees. 

 The eggs are white, and two in number. This 

 dove is said to be good eating, the flesh being very 

 delicate. 



LIFE IN CAPTIVITY. 



I have kept the Madagascar Dove for only a 

 year or two, and have not so far reared any young 

 ones, though the birds have had several nests and 

 laid eggs. My present pair of birds sit very 

 steadily indeed for a time, and then without warn- 

 ing will desert the nest. Yet you would think 

 when they first began to sit that nothing would 

 move them, they sit so closely. To Mr. Newman 

 belongs the honour of first breeding the Mada- 

 gascar dove in Great Britain. 



He considers it the least graceful of any Turtle- 

 dove he has seen, the tail being relatively short 

 and the legs rather long, whilst the bird's body is 

 a very sturdy shape. The notes of this dove are 

 varied, one, its fighting note, consisting of a sort of 

 grunt, whilst its coo proper is one of "considerable 

 sweetness," the bird drawing himself up very 

 straight, and then bowing low to the ground as he 

 utters it. The eggs are large for the size of the 

 bird. Two eggs, deserted, taken from my own 

 doves vary very much in shape, one being oval 

 (with one end rounded, the other end slightly 

 pointed), the other egg being very round and full. 



shorter than the other and with scarcely any point 

 at the one end. 



Mr. Newman's birds built their nest of quite 

 strong twigs, making a very firm nest ; they sat 

 well, and the }'oung when hatched were covered 

 "with bright yellow down, almost reddish fawn 

 on head, back, and outer edges of wings." The 

 first young plumage, after the downy stage, is very 

 different from the parent birds, for they lack the 

 vinous purple almost entirely, being brownish 

 grey, with the feathers edged with chestnut, the 

 chestnut tips to the wing feathers forming two 

 distinct bars across it. There are no dark marks 

 on the neck. The young birds bred later by 

 another aviculturalist had a "greenish tinge" to 

 the plumage, but this was not visible in Mr. 

 Newman's birds. At eight weeks old the eldest 

 young bird had many purple feathers on the 

 shoulders, and the chestnut edges to the feathers 

 had greatly faded. 



The old birds proved excellent parents, the hen 

 hitting out with her wings if the nest were too 

 closely looked at, and if obliged to leave it she 

 would flap her wings and try to draw observation 

 from the nest by pretending to have injured her 

 legs, dragging over the ground as if she was hurt. 

 It is unusual for a captive dove to act in this way, 

 though frequently done by some species in a wild 

 state. 



This handsome dove was first kept at the Zoo 

 in 1866. It seems hardy and able to stand the cold 

 well, always looking "tight" in feather. I have 

 found my birds rather inclined to be aggressive 

 to other species of doves, but Mr. Newman found 

 his birds fairly amiable ; but it would be unfair to 

 judge on my part from one or two specimens, for 

 birds differ in their characters as much as human 

 beings. 



Since I wrote the above my birds have hatched 

 one young one, and look like rearing it. It is 

 about half the size of the adult bird and still in the 

 nest, the hen sitting on an egg, newly laid, in the 

 same nest. When I went to inspect the nest the 

 other day (the old bird being off it) the young bird 

 raised itself on its legs and made a most curious 

 noise at me — a sort of hissing sound. It looked 

 exceedingly strong and healthy, but was the ugliest 

 young dove, I think, I have ever seen, the down on 

 it being so very hairy. 



The old birds have so far been splendid parents, 

 and I have seen the little creature's bare crop 

 (before its skin was so covered with down and 

 feathers), looking so very full that it hung like a 

 bag at the side of the neck, and the wonder was 

 it was not killed with kindness ; it looks like 

 making a very fine bird. 



