NESTING. 



27 



should never be eggbound. I think I can only 

 remember one hen in the many (of the larger 

 varieties) I have kept that died of this, and in this 

 single case the bird had a bad fall also, which no 

 doubt made matters worse. 



I can never be certain of m}' own doves how 

 long they sit, for most of the nests are above my 

 head, and it frightens the birds if one brings in 

 steps or stools from which to observe at close 

 quarters, so it is not worth while to run any risks. 

 If you cannot tell the time you w'ill at least know 

 when the eggs are hatched, for the shell — broken 

 in half — will be thrown out of the nest. A hatched 

 shell that has held a living bird will have a reddish 

 tinge (as of dried blood) inside. If you have two 

 eggs, and both hatch, the second shell will be 

 thrown out next day, often being found quite a 

 distance from the nest. 



If you could see the newlj'-hatched young ones 

 you would think what ugly, helpless little things, 

 for they are blind, and covered with cream hairy 

 down, and the flesh and feet and legs look ver}' 

 dark-coloured. It is difficult to think, as one looks 

 at the parent birds, that they, too, were once like 

 their children ; but perhaps more difficult still to 

 understand how such a tiny thing as this empty 

 egg-shell held this living bird, and how in such a 

 cramped position it could live, and, further, have 

 the power to burst its prison. If bird-keeping does 

 nothing else for us, it at least teaches us how 

 wonderful is our Creator, and how humble we feel 

 before the Power that can give Life. We can take 

 life away, but all the people in the world with their 

 united strength could not give it, even to so help- 

 less a thing as a baby dove. 



As soon as ever you find the eggshells you must 

 begin to try and protect the nestlings from acci- 

 dents. There is always the chance they may fall 

 from the nest, and if they fell on the hard floor it 

 would mean death ; so it is as well to put down a 

 good bed of hay below the nest, and remember at 

 this stage to go round your aviary oftener than 

 usual to see all is well. 



Both parents feed the 3'oung ones from the crop, 

 the soft food forming whilst the birds are sitting. 

 It is a pretty sight to see the greedy young ones 

 being fed, when they get rather older and vigorous 

 and eager for food. I have seen one of my old 

 Barbary doves with a young one on each side of 

 him, their beaks inside his, and he pumping up 

 the food from his crop as fast as he can to satisfy 

 the little tyrants. So attentive are the parents in 

 some cases that I have known their beaks get 

 quite sore with the continuous feeding of their 

 young ones. 



It will be a proud day for j'ou when your first 

 young dove leaves the nest. You will not 



probably see the descent, but will find a pretty, 

 round-eyed little bird comfortably squatted on your 

 hay bed. If you had not put down the hay you 

 might have found a dead body, or a nestling with 

 a broken leg or wing. Now that the hay has 

 served its purpose it is better, after the second 

 young one has come down, to take nearly all away. 

 Leave just a handful, no more, in a corner of the 

 shelter for the young birds to sit on, for they need 

 a firm surface to walk on ; a soft one only means 

 weak legs. Like the strong, firm pads of a dog 

 used to road exercise, so a young dove needs a 

 hard floor if its legs are to be kept straight. 



You are now at a very critical time in your 

 young birds' life. If the parents will go on feed- 

 ing them all will be well, but if they begin to nest 

 again the chance of rearing the young ones is 

 much lessened. I have sometimes thought it 

 might not be a bad plan, after the young have 

 left the nest, to cut down every nest-pan, even the 

 old nursery, and take out every bit of building 

 material, and so discourage the parents, if pos- 

 sible, from starting nesting again till the young 

 ones were about a month old. It would perhaps 

 mean less young ones being bred in a season, but 

 they would be stronger birds. If one only kept 

 one pair of nesting birds in each aviary this plan 

 might be carried out, but where there are two 

 pairs it would be very difficult, and would probably 

 mean that }-our second pair of birds, if sitting, at 

 the time, would be disturbed. 



Doves vary so very much in character. Some 

 may be trusted to look after their young and a 

 second clutch of eggs ; with others, when you hear 

 the old cock restarting to coo, you realise the 

 young have a very poor chance of being reared, 

 for neglect follows, and speedily death, the parents 

 appearing to have lost all affection for the young 

 ones, and caring only for the new eggs. Perhaps 

 the better plan is to take either the cock or hen 

 away (whichever seems the worst feeder of the 

 young) on the very first suspicion, before the fresh 

 eggs are laid. But here again you run the risk 

 of disturbing any other sitting bird in the aviary if 

 you start to do any catching. 



When the young ones first come out of the nest 

 I usually keep them in the shelter for a day or 

 two, with a barrier (made of one of the door 

 shutters) fastened across the doorway. They have 

 a tiny bed of hay in one corner, and are quite 

 happy, the old birds being not in the least disturbed 

 by the blocked doorway, for they can easily fly 

 over it, in and out. Then, if the weather is fairly 

 warm, I let the young ones out into the glass- 

 covered flight, taking the shutter from the door- 

 wa)', but putting a further barrier (made of two 

 shutters) across where the glass-covered part joins 



