68 



MY FOREIGN DOVES AND PIGEONS. 



also ate earwigs and spiders. Dr. Greene dis- 

 covered this accidentally when he one day saw his 

 doves disputing with his Pekin Robins over some 

 insects (provided for the latter birds) and gobbling 

 down the dainties as fast as they could. Though 

 the Tambourines were very wild when first they 

 came, they soon settled down, and would take 

 mealworms and insects from the hand. Dr. 

 Greene considers this insect food, combined with 

 the seed diet, as most essential to the health of 

 these doves, and he also advises a constant supply 

 of cuttlefish bone should be given. I believe, from 

 my own experience, that doves thrive better and 

 keep in finer plumage if a little soft food (that is, 

 insectivorous food moistened and mixed with half 

 biscuit, crushed) is given in addition to the seed. 

 Dr. Greene's birds made a nest of sticks on the top 

 of a Hartz canar}' cage, but unfortunately he did 

 not realise that the doves needed heat in winter, 

 and both the birds died when the cold weather set 

 in — first the hen, and a little later the cock. 



To Dr. Butler belongs the honour of having 

 been the first to breed the Tambourine in this 

 country, but not till he had suffered many dis- 

 appointments and expectations that only ended in 

 nothing. 



Man}' people think it is very easy to breed doves. 

 I grant they will easily make nests and lay eggs, 

 but to rear young birds to maturity is a verjr 

 different matter — one has to be prepared, like 

 King Bruce's spider, to "try, try again." 



Those aviculturalists who have at last succeeded 

 in breeding a rare bird for the first time, after 

 many failures, can understand the joy of final 

 success. Dr. Butler's birds made nests, laid eggs, 

 hatched them or not, let the young birds die, and 

 this not once or twice, before any young' were 

 really reared. He tells us how the young birds 

 were 12 or 13 days old when he first dared to look 

 at them. They were then about the size of a 

 sparrow, and of most singular appearance. Most 

 young doves have at first long downy-like hairs 

 intermixed with the feathers, and in the young 

 Tambourines these hairs were very marked. Com- 

 pared with the parents, they were very tawny, and 

 of course the white parts were not visible. It is 

 curious that the white breasts of any adult doves 

 are seldom if ever seen in the )'oung birds; what 

 will be white later is generally huffish or grey 

 colour. 



One of Dr. Butler's little Tambourines met with 

 a sad accident which ended in its death. Both 

 young ones jumped out of the nest, being suddenly 

 startled by the cock bird, and fell on to the hard 

 cement floor ; one escaped injury, but the other died 

 three days later, though apparently unhurt at the 

 time. The uninjured bird was successfully reared, 



though it was slow in being able to fly or do for 

 itself. 



Though the Tambourine, dove is very lovely, I 

 cannot say I found my own three birds very 

 interesting. They spent nearly all their time in 

 the shelter, and only came out some times into the 

 flight, generally towards evening ; they greatly 

 enjoA'ed sitting out in a heavy shower of rain, 

 standing like a statue with the head thrown back ; 

 but these little doves seem too lazy to care to move 

 about much, and the alertness of most of the 

 smaller doves seems to be lacking' in them — they 

 just sit still for you to admire them, and that one 

 can do very honestly. 



I used to hear my cocks cooing, and once I saw 

 one carrying a twig about ; but they made no 

 further effort towards nesting. Once when I had 

 to catch one it cried and moaned like a child with 

 fright, in much the same way that an Aurita dove 

 does. 



INDIAN GREEN-WINGED DOVE. 



(Chalcophaps Indica). 



Habitat. — From India, Ceylon, Burmah and 

 South China, through the Malay Peninsula and the 

 Malay Archipelago to West New Guinea and the 

 Islands in Geelvink Bay. 



Length. — About 10 inches. Shape, rather short 

 and thick set. 



Colouring. — Adult male — Forehead and streak 

 above eye white, crown and back of head leaden 

 grey ; back of neck, throat and breast rich maroon 

 (rather lighter on under parts) ; shoulder butts 

 whitish grey, wings and upper back bright 

 "bottle" green, the lower back blackish barred 

 across with grey ; long quill wing feathers 

 blackish, bill bright sealing-wax red, with dusky 

 cere; iris dark brown, feet crimson. The hen is 

 chestnut brown where the cock is maroon ; she is 

 rather a darker shade on the back of the neck, her 

 shoulder butts are chestnut, and the white on her 

 forehead smaller and not so pure ; lower back 

 chestnut, wings bright green with blackish quills, 

 feet crimson, Ibill brig'ht red. 



WILD LIFE. 



This beautiful little dove is common in India, 

 and is often sold in the Calcutta market, or im- 

 ported for sale to England. Dr. Butler tells us 

 that "the Malays are said to give the name of 

 'Fool Pigeon' to this bird on account of the ease 

 with which they capture it. Concealing them- 

 selves behind an arbour of branches in a clearing, 

 they scatter rice around, and the birds crowd round 

 in such numbers and with so little suspicion that 

 they are seized one after the other by the hand 



