ZEBRA DOVE. 



S9 



Frazer to try once more if he could discover what 

 bird it was, when, in looliing- up into the tree 

 under which we were sitting we saw one of these 

 little doves, and ascertained from the movement of 

 its throat that the sound proceeded from it, 

 although it still fell on our ears as if it had been 

 some large bird upon the plain." 



LIFE IN CAPTIVITY. 



The Peaceful Dove is a quiet little bird, vei'v 

 different in character to the Zebra Dove, though so 

 like it in appearance. 



You will notice the chief points of difference are 

 that in the Peaceful the black bars extend right 

 across the breast, and the bill and eye are a 

 different colour, also the back of the head is not so 

 red as in the Zebra. Dr. Butler found the Peace- 

 ful doves quiet to the verge of dulness ; they never 

 left their branch except to feed, and then only ate 

 sparingly. He considered the hens more delicate 

 than the cocks. In another aviary I- have read of 

 a pair of Peaceful doves being forced to give up 

 their nest to a little hen Pileated Finch, who forth- 

 vi^ith took possession of it and started to incubate 

 the eggs, sitting so closely that she could almost 

 be touched without taking alarm. 



Mr. Astley bred the Peaceful dove in Ital}' most 

 successfully, no less than four broods appearing 

 in seven months, besides another clutch of eggs 

 that failed to hatch. The nest was built in a 

 covered box, partly open at one side, and entirely 

 so underneath ; inside this was fixed a bunch of 

 heather, and the nest (of hay) was built on it. 

 When first the young birds were hatched they were 

 covered with fawn-coloured down, and on leaving 

 the nest had a very spotted appearance, the 

 feathers being spotted with cream-buff, and these 

 again having a little bar, or spot, of dark brown; 

 the general colour of the young birds was a "dull 

 mouse brown." There was no pink on the breast, 

 nor bluish and pale pink round the eyes as in the 

 adult bird. The eggs were about 13 days in 

 incubating. 



This dove was kept at the Zoo as far back as 

 1868, but I do not know if it has ever been bred 

 there. The value of the Peaceful dove is about 

 10/- per pair. It should be taken indoors in 

 winter, as it does not stand extreme cold well. 



ZEBRA DOVE. 



(Geopelia striata). 



Habitat. — South Tenasserim, Malay Peninsula, 

 Indo-Malayan Archipelago, and from the Philip- 

 pines southward to Lombock, the Celebes and 

 Amboyna. It has been introduced into the 

 Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, Round Island, 

 Reunion, and St. Helena. 



Length. — Rather over 8 inches. Build, graceful 

 and slender. 



Colouring. — Adult male — Front of the head, 

 cheeks and throat ashy grey, hind part of crown 

 and occiput reddish, the principal part of the body 

 brown or brownish grey, barred with narrow black 

 lines ; these, however, are not over the centre of 

 the breast, which is pale vinous. The abdomen 

 and under-tail coverts buff}'-white, the sides and 

 .flanks ditto, but with narrow black bands; the 

 iris brown, the bill black, the feet purple. The 

 female is rather smaller than the male, and less 

 reddish on the occiput. 



WILD LIFE. 



A gentleman who had visited Mahe, the largest 

 island of the Seychelles group, writes of the Zebra 

 doves, that they "abound on the estate, and come 

 every afternoon to be fed with rice." He adds 

 that the doves are "ridiculously tame, for 'wild 

 birds, ' and when we sat in the verandah they would 

 often perch on our shoulders or walk over our 

 books." 



LIFE IN CAPTIVITY. 



The Zebra dove was at one time one of the 

 commonest of imported doves, and could be bought 

 for as little as 4/6 a pair, but of late years it has 

 not been offered for sale so frequently. I once 

 reared a young one of either this species or the 

 Peaceful dove, but before it was full grown it was 

 killed by another bird. The cock Zebra looks very 

 pretty when he coos, bowing to the ground and 

 raising and spreading his tail like a fan. I cannot 

 say, however, that either the Zebra dove or the 

 Peaceful dove (which is so very like it) are great 

 favourites of mine, partly because these small 

 doves have a way — or rather the cocks have — of 

 making themselves so disagreeable to others of the 

 dove tribe that may be kept in the same aviary, 

 and partly because the birds are liable to overgrown 

 beaks in weak or old specimens; this, of course, 

 means the beak must be clipped if the bird is not 

 to starve, and clipping a beak is an operation 1 

 rather shrink from if possible — it is very much 

 worse than cutting claws. 



The late O. E. Cresswell, Esq., who kept the 

 Zebra dove, found them w'onderfully hardy for 

 Indian birds; all the same, I think all tiny doves 

 need protection in winter ; they do not seem to have 

 the vigour in them to withstand the cold as have 

 the larger varieties. Mr. Cresswell says he never 

 saw more devoted sitters or parents than the 

 Zebras ; they would defend their nest against birds 

 four or five times their own size. Unfortunately 

 this devotion to the young birds did not last, and 

 nest after nest was lost through the old birds start- 

 ing again before the young ones were able to do 



