64 



MY FOREIGN DOVES AND PIGEONS. 



change colour. Then in my ignorance I did a very 

 foolish thing with the best of intentions. The 

 nest was so exposed, and the aviary so full of 

 mixed birds and possible enemies, that I watched 

 my opportunity whilst the hen was off the nest, 

 and fixed up a few Scotch fir branches before the 

 nest, though in no way touching it, as a screen. 



But the hen did not like this arrangement, and 

 would not go back till I had taken down the 

 branches again, -when she returned at once. 



The birds went on sitting, and just a day or so 

 before the egg was due to hatch I found the cock 

 sitting by the side of the hen on the nest. I linew 

 what it meant, and my hopes sank ; the cock was 

 trying to persuade the hen to leave the egg and 

 start a fresh nest. Needless to say he succeeded, 

 and in a few hours I had to admit the disappoint- 

 ing fact that the nest was deserted. It was all the 

 more trying as the egg contained a very fine young 

 bird just ready to hatch. 



The Passerine is rather a tiresome little dove to 

 other small doves of its size and to its own kind, 

 chasing them continually till they are tired out. 



The Zoo possessed a Passerine so far back as 

 i860. At the present time these charming little 

 doves cost 15/- or less a pair. They should be 

 brought in during the winter, for being such 

 ground-loving birds they would soon get chilled 

 and die if left out in the wet or snowy weather. 



THE TALPACOTI (OR CINNAMON) DOVE. 



(Chamacpelia Talpacoti). 



Habitat. — Venezuela (Orinoco), Guiana, Brazil, 

 Paraguay, Bolivia, and Peru. 



Length. — About 7 inches. Shape, very similar 

 to a Passerine dove. 



Colouring. — General colour brown vinous red ; 

 paler, almost white, on the breast ; upper part of 

 the head and nape grey, lighter on the forehead. 

 The wings and tail are brownish black, and the 

 former has several blotches of a black steel-blue. 

 The iris is dull yellow-red, the feet flesh colour, 

 the bill dark brown. The hen is paler and duller 

 in colouring ; a brownish tinge on the mantle ; 

 some specimens have hardly a vinous tinge, but 

 are tinged with pale brownish grey, with the 

 middle of the abdomen whitish, and the under tail 

 coverts dull rufous edged with whitish. 



WILD LIFE. 



Mr. E. W. White, on Birds from the Argentine 

 Republic, writes as follows: — "These pretty 

 chocolate-coloured doves fly in pairs, and at this 

 date (November) were found constructing their 

 nests in the orange groves ; they are sometimes 

 seen on the ground busily in quest of seeds, but 



are very wild and not at all common. I shot 

 specimens at Concepcion, Misiones, in the month 

 of June, but the}' were rare there." 



Another writer, Mr. Hamilton, also notes the 

 shy nature of the Talpacoti. He says : "I only 

 noticed these birds round one or two farms, where 

 they associated in small flocks, feeding on the 

 ground in company with various kinds of small 

 birds, and were remarkably shy ; on the approach 

 of an3'one they were invariably the first to take 

 alarm and fly away; I saw them occasionally 

 perched upon the roofs of outhouses." 



Here we have two records of this dove being shy 

 and timid, but a third writer, Mr. Selby, experi- 

 enced the reverse. ' He writes of the Cinnamon 

 dove as follows : — "This diminutive species, which 

 only measures about 6j inches in length, is pretty 

 widely distributed throughout Brazil, Paraguay, 

 and other districts of South America. It lives in 

 the open grounds, but generally near the confines 

 of woods, as it roosts and breeds upon the lower 

 bushes or underwood, but never upon the larger 

 trees or far from the ground. It is generally 

 observed in pairs, sometimes in families of four 

 or six, but never associated in large flocks. It 

 appears to be of a tame disposition, as it is seen 

 constantly about the confines of houses or in the 

 farmyards, and readily admits of a near 

 approach." 



Wagler observes that in Europe it is easily kept 

 and propagated in the aviary. It is active upon 

 the ground, and feeds upon the smaller cerealia, 

 berries, etc." 



LIFE IN CAPTIX'ITY. 



I have only kept one pair of this little dove. This 

 was in 1903, when I bought one pair each of 

 Talpacoti and Seal}' doves. . The next 3'ear I un- 

 fortunatel)' lost my hen Cinnamon, I think from 

 cold. It is unwise to leave any small doves in a 

 cold aviary for the winter ; they do not seem to 

 have the stamina of the larger kinds. 



Mr. Castle-Sloane, in 1904, was very successful 

 in breeding the Talpacoti dove. Probably his birds 

 were from the same importation as mine, for he 

 first had them in the same year. They reared 

 three broods in the season, the eggs of the third 

 nest being laid on July 6th and 7th, and were 

 hatched out on the 22nd. The nest was built of 

 hay in some pine branches nailed close up to the 

 roof of the shelter; so small was the nest that it 

 hardly seemed capable of holding the two eggs. 

 The young were like the hen in colour. (Another 

 writer tells us they have no black blotches on the 

 wings, and the tail feathers are edged with red- 

 dish). Later a fourth, brood were hatched out, but 

 I do not know if they were reared. 



