THE DECEPTIVE AND DAMARA TURTLE-DOVES. 



hen still went on laying after the nest pans were 

 cut down for the winter. 



THE DECEPTIVE TURTLE-DOVE. 



(Tiirtur Decipiens). 



Habitat. — East Africa from Dongola to the 

 Zambesi. 



Length. — About 12 inches. Shape, rather like a 

 Barbary. 



Colouring. — Adult male — Upper, parts pale 

 earthy brown, slightly reddish, anterior part of 

 head above ashy, changing into vinous on the hind 

 part and nape. On the hind neck a broad black 

 collar, edged above with ashy white. Upper 

 breast a beautiful vinous, chin and throat whitish, 

 under parts whitish, but grey on under tail coverts 

 and lead grey on flanks. The tail is grey or 

 brownish, earthy-brown in the centre, some of the 

 feathers having narrow white tips. The iris is 

 buffy orange, the bare skin round the eye grey 

 tinged with pink, feet carmine, bill black. 



WILD LIFE. 



This dove in various forms has a wide range 

 over Africa. One writer says of it that it is quite 

 one of the commonest doves in the Soudan, and 

 that it keeps much to the vicinity of the rivers. It 

 builds in the Acacia bushes, and the nest is lightly 

 built of twigs. One form of this dove was so 

 common and clustered so thickly on the trees that 

 five or six might be killed with one cartridge. The 

 pigeons were great drinkers, and the flocks used 

 to come down to the river morning and evening. 

 When they returned at night "they would rise to a 

 great height, and circling round, plunge down 

 headlong, like our wood pigeons, into the trees 

 used as roosting places." 



LIFE IN CAPTIVITY. 



The same consignment of doves that brought 

 me my Tambourine doves and others from Africa, 

 in March, 1902, also included four Deceptive 

 Turtle-doves. Two of these I had the misfortune 

 to lose. The two others I kept until 1905, when 

 I parted with them. They were very handsome 

 birds, but very nervous, and one of the surviving 

 two twice had a fit. The first fit was brought on 

 by fright at the sight of a Long-tailed Glossy 

 Starling; perhaps its formidable tail may have 

 caused the dove to be alarmed. It flew against 

 the wires very badly, and rolled over and over on 

 the ground, and then went quite stiff. I dashed 

 cold water on it, and afterwards put it in a 

 darkened cage. Later on it had a second seizure, 

 but was all right by night. Nor to my knowledge 

 did it ever have another fit afterwards. 



This dove has a most peculiar coo, it is scarcely 

 like the note of a bird and is more like a scream 

 from a cat. Mr. Newman (who later owned my 

 two birds) noted that this particular call was used 

 by both sexes, and was generally made when the 

 bird alighted on a bough, or was about to attack 

 an enemy, or sometimes when on the wing. The 

 other call, as when the cock was attracting the 

 hen, or when he was in the nest calling her, was 

 quite a different sound. My birds proved to be two 

 cocks, but fortunately Mr. Newman was able in 

 igo6 and 1907 to procure two hens. These birds 

 came from Kordofan, and formed part of a collec- 

 tion of African birds gathered from the White Nile 

 for the Girza Zoological Gardens, Cairo. The 

 birds nested often, but failed time after time to 

 raise their young to maturity, that grave fault in 

 doves — neglect before the young can do for them- 

 selves — being the entire cause. The nest was 

 made of a thick mass of twigs, so high that some 

 of the twigs had to be cleared away to prevent the 

 eggs rolling off. 



I have several times known doves do this or even 

 pile up another layer of material over the eggs, 

 and lay a fresh clutch on the top. The eggs of the 

 Deceptive Turtle-dove "are rather small for the 

 size of the bird, pure white, rather glossy and 

 round, though three laid in 1908 are rather larger 

 and longer in shape. The eggs generally hatch 

 on the 13th, sometimes on the 14th day after the 

 second egg is laid." I cannot find a record of this 

 dove being kept at the Zoological Gardens. I have 

 only kept it this single time when it was sent 

 over by a friend. I have never known it offered for 

 sale. 



You will notice in the description of this dove 

 that the feet are carmine. There is no exception 

 to this rule in any dove that I know — I mean that 

 the feet and legs are some shade of red or crimson. 

 It may range from crimson pUrple to the faintest 

 flesh colour, but it is always a variation of the 

 same shade. The Arabs have an old legend to 

 account for this. They say that the first time the 

 Dove returned to the Ark it bore the olive branch, 

 but gave no other sign of the state of the earth ; 

 but on its second visit its feet were covered with 

 red mud, clearly showing it had walked on earth 

 already freed from the water. To record the event 

 Noah prayed that the feet of these birds might 

 ever continue red colour, and his prayer was 

 granted. 



THE DAMARA TURTLE-DOVE. 



(Turtur Damarensis). 

 Habitat. — Angola, Damaraland and East Africa, 

 from Transvaal to Mount Eglon, and also the 

 Comoro Islands and Madagascar. 



