THE CAPE OR HARLEQUIN DOVE. 



So eager were these Talpacotis to nest that later 

 on, I think in 1906, they began sitting' on two 

 nests at once. The hen first built in some bushes 

 near the aviary door, where she was often dis- 

 turbed, for every time some one went in to feed 

 the birds she would fly up and leave the nest. She 

 then laid two eggs in an old nest close by ; these 

 the cock sat on, whilst the hen continued to sit on 

 her first clutch. In the case of the cock the eggs 

 came to nothing. It is the rule with doves that 

 the cock sits by day and the hen b}- night, but I 

 have known of at least one case where the hen 

 appeared to do most of the work. The Talpacoti 

 dove has been known to turn wholly or partiall)' 

 black in plumage where odd specimens were kept. 



It was first kept at the Zoo in May, 1S68, and 

 bred there in August of the same year, and also 

 several times in laier vears. 



CHAPTER VII. 



BROXZE-WIXG DOVES AND PIGEONS. 



The Cape (or Harlequin) Dove. 

 ., Tambourine Dove. 



Indian Green-winged Dove. 



Bronze-wing Pigeon. 

 ,, Brush Bronze-wing Pigeon. 



Partridge Bronze-wing. 



THE CAPE (OR HARLEQUIN) DOVE. 



[Ena capensis). 

 ■ Habitat. — Common in Tropical and Southern 

 Africa, and also Madagascar and Arabia, where it 

 is found near Jeddah and Aden. 



Length. — About 9 inches. Shape, graceful and 

 slender, with very long tail. 



Colouring. — General colour a brownish grey 

 with (in the cock) a black mark over the face and 

 throat. Two black bands cross the rump, and 

 between them a belt of pale huffish brown. The 

 breast and abdomen are white, the tail, which is 

 very long, black and white. On the wings are 

 large steel-blue patches of metallic feathers. The 

 basal half of the bill is lake red, the remaining half 

 orange. The iris is brown, the feet and legs dark 

 rose-red. The hen differs chiefly from the cock in 

 having no black mark, and is much browner in 

 colour; but I have found individual birds vary very 

 much. The young birds resemble the hen, but 

 have blackish bands on the head and neck. Their 

 feet are dark purple, and bealv black. 



WILD LIFE. 



The Cape Dove is also known by the three other 

 names of the Harlequin, Masked and Naquama 

 Dove. It is found on wooded steppes, in hedges 

 and gardens, round the farms, and in the cattle 



kraals. It builds its nest of a few dry twigs, 

 generally in palms and acacias, from June to 

 September. It would seem as if the nest were 

 sometimes also built on the ground, for Captain 

 Horsburgh, speaking of this dove, says : "I found 

 the nests of this latter species last June, which is 

 nearly the middle of winter here ; one of the nests 

 was on the top of a furrow in a ploughed field and 

 not a bush near it. I presume the eggs must have 

 been near hatching time, as the little hen would 

 only go a few feet away from the treasures, and as 

 soon as I moved away she flew to them at once 

 and settled herself down in a most confidential 

 manner." 



This was at Bloemfontein, and the same writer 

 also tells us he has seen dozens of this little dove 

 in Cape Colony. In one place he bought four 

 specimens from a boy at a farm for 6d. each. 



In its wild state the Cape dove frequents the 

 ground much more than when it is in captivity. 

 The coo is a sound of Hoo-roo-roo, and as the bird 

 makes it he spreads his long tail and jerks it 

 upwards. The hens are imported much less 

 frequently than the cocks. 



LIFE IN CAPTIVITY. 



This little dove is one of the most graceful of 

 its kind. It has a very long slender tail, and when 

 in flight with outstretched wings it hovers like 

 some beautiful foreign butterfly, for its wing 

 motion is rather slow and hesitating. It is a quiet 

 lazy little bird in captivity, and spending most of 

 the day sitting quietly on a branch, seemingly 

 indifferent to its surroundings. 



I have kept several specimens of this dove, and 

 though my hens have laid eggs, I have never been 

 successful in breeding any young ones. It has 

 been bred in Germany and by two aviculturalists at 

 least in England. The earliest of these records 

 was in the aviary of a friend of mine, a ladv in 

 the South of England. She did not for long rear 

 the young ones, for if the weather turned cold 

 when they were in the nest, and the old birds failed 

 to brood them, the )-oung birds always died; at 

 last, however, she succeeded in rearing a pair to 

 maturity. 



In the second instance the gentleman in whose 

 aviary the Cape doves bred, writes to me as 

 follows : — "I had several young hatched, but found 

 that they would jump out of the nest at an early 

 age and that the adults would not feed them on 

 the ground. However, I devised a method of 

 keeping them in the nest as long as I wished, and 

 I then had no further trouble. I dare say you have 

 noticed that the eggs are not white, but a deep 

 warm buff; one clutch was almost saffron colour." 



One of my own hens came to a sad end. .She 



F 



