MY FOREIGN DOVES AND PIGEONS. 



greyer birds, I consider, are prettier and more 

 dainty. The young birds are also grey and vinous, 

 but the colours are not so bright as in the adult 

 birds, and the checked collar is at first lacking. If 

 allowed, the Senegal dove would probably nest all 

 the year round, the same as the Barbary. 



The Senegal was first bred at the Zoo in 1861, 

 and in 1907 some were liberated as an experiment 

 in the Gardens, and I am told have done very well, 

 and settled down and nested. I have seen single 

 cock birds offered for as little as 2/6 each, but the 

 proper price is 12/6 to 15/- for a good adult pair. 

 I believe I gave 20/- for.m}' pair in 1901,. but this 

 was through ignorance of their value, and possibly 

 they were not as common then as now. The 

 Senegal is hardv and stands the cold well. 



CHAPTER VI. 



GROUND DOVES. 

 The Bar-shouldered Dove. 

 ,, Peaceful Dove. 

 ,, Zebra Dove. 

 ,, Diamond Dove. 

 ,, Scaly Dove. 

 ,, Picui Dove. 

 ,, Passerine Dove. 

 ,, Talpacoti (or Cinnamon) Dove. 



BAR-SHOULDERED DOVE. 



{Geopelia humerajis). 



Habitat. — Australia (except the south-west), and 

 Southern New Guinea. 



Length. — 11 inches. Shape, long and graceful. 



Colouring. — The head (except the back of the 

 neck) and upper breast, pale ash gre)'. The back 

 of the neck has a very deep collar of red-brown, 

 every feather being tipped with black, giving the 

 bird a scaled appearance. The back wing coverts, 

 rump and upper tail coverts pale brown tipped with 

 black ; the lower breast and under-tail coverts pale 

 lilac-vinous. The eye is pale straw-colour, the 

 bare skin round it nearly purple, the bill slate, the 

 nostrils light blue, the legs and feet pink-red. The 

 hen is usually smaller than the male, and more 

 slender in build; the grey on the breast is darker 

 and duller. 



WILD LIFE. 



The Bar-shouldered dove frequents the ground 

 more than the trees, as it feeds largely on the seeds 

 of numerous grasses. Gould tells us that when in 

 Australia he found this dove so tame that it would 

 sometimes perch within two yards of where he was 

 sitting; he adds, however, that thirst and the scant 

 supply of water may have made it bolder than 



usual. This dove breeds in its wild state in 

 August, making a nest of thin twigs on the lower 

 leaves of Pandanus. In a recent work on "The 

 Nests and Eggs of Australia," Mr. Campbell tells 

 us that the Bar-shouldered dove prefers the wooded 

 and scrubby localities, and that when cooked it 

 is delicious eating, especially when hashed with 

 sweet potatoes. 



LIFE I.N CAPTIVITY. 



The Bar-shouldered dove is a ver}' handsome 

 bird, long and elegant in shape, and with very 

 attractive markings, but it is a bird that has a 

 bad character for being very quarrelsome with its 

 own tribe, one writer, from his own experience, 

 going so far as to say he considers it unsafe to 

 keep with other doves. 



It seems to var}- much in size. Dr. Butler had 

 two male birds, and one was much larger than 

 the other, the former bird proving a great tyrant 

 to all the other doves. In my own case I have had 

 three birds in all, one cock and two hens, and both 

 the hens were much smaller than the cock. Two 

 of these birds were sent me direct from Australia ; 

 they arrived in very bad condition, and you cannot 

 wonder when I tell you that the travelling box they 

 were shipped in was onl}- about 17 inches square 

 and also contained, besides the Bar-shouldereds, a 

 large Fruit pigeon and a Blue Bonnet parrakeet. 



The butcher who had charge of them, being 

 evidently a kind and, sensible man, took on himself 

 to separate the birds on the voyage, but they were 

 sent by rail on reaching England, in the original- 

 box cage. The parrakeet and the large pigeon had 

 not suffered, but the poor Bar-shouldereds had both 

 been injured. The cock, a very fine bird, had a 

 wound over one eye that never properly healed 

 all the time I had him, whilst the hen was a most 

 horrible sight, one side of her face being com- 

 pletely sliced off, the eyesight on that side of course 

 being destroyed. 



It was evidentl}' not a new wound, and I should 

 say had been done when first the birds started 

 before the butcher parted them. How anyone 

 could be so cruel as to send four birds a long 

 vovage in such a confined space I do not know ; 

 but I think some people think a bird or animal can 

 bear anything and yet live. 



The poor little hen only lived a few weeks, and 

 I really was glad she died. Meantime the cock. 

 had got into trouble. He raised his wing in a' 

 striking attitude at a little Conure, and the latter 

 gave one snap in return at the dove's leg and broke 

 it high up in the thigh. I was in the aviary at 

 the time, and, with the help of my birdman, we 

 set the leg with a splint and some cottonwool and 

 thread. We dressed it often, and were rewarded 



