/S 



MY FOREIGN DOVES AND PIGEONS. 



known way injured her wing and was never able 

 to fly again. I placed her a sort of ladder (made 

 of a sloping branch) up to the fir boughs that were 

 lashed to the aviary walls, and she was soon able 

 to mount up to the highest point, right up under 

 the roof. She was apt, however, if startled, to lose 

 her balance and fall, and, as the hurt wing was of 

 no use to her, she fell rather heavily- Unknown 

 to me this caused a large raw wound in the lower 

 part of the poor bird's breast, but it did not bleed, 

 and was so covered by feathers that I did not for 

 some time discover it. It was so large a hurt that 

 I was in two minds whether or not to have her 

 destroyed, but she was spared, and the cause of her 

 accident being removed, she quite recovered, the 

 wound entirely healing. 



Though her life was now spent nearly on the 

 ground (so low down she could not injure herself), 

 this dove lived many years, and died chiefly from 

 old age. I should never again allow a crippled 

 bird to mount too high. Doves cannot cling like 

 parrots, and so save themselves a fall. A little 

 perch, made of a broom handle, costing 2d., can 

 always be nailed across a corner of the aviary, and 

 so protect the bird's feet from the danger of get- 

 ting dirt}^ and chilled, as they would be if com- 

 pelled to always be on the floor. 



At Woburn Park the Duke of Bedford has a 

 flock of wild Crested doves, and about 40 specimens 

 were turned out loose at the Zoo a short time ago 

 as an experiment. It seems to have answered, for 

 later one of the keepers saw a group of 14 feeding, 

 and many were young birds. 



This dove varies much in the colour of its 

 plumage. I have had birds deep slate grey, and 

 again others the most delicate shade of pale ash. 

 The latter are the prettier to my thinking, but the 

 metallic shades seem deeper and richer in the 

 darker birds. 



The Crested was first bred at the Zoo in 1S72, 

 and has been often bred in private aviaries. The 

 value keeps always about the same, namely, 20/- 

 for an adult pair of birds. It is a very hardy dove, 

 especialljr when one considers the great heat it 

 lives in in its native country. I have known birds 

 desirous to nest in January, with 14 degrees of 

 frost. 



The Partridge (or Red Mountain) Dove. 

 ,, The Bleeding Heart Pigeon. 

 ,, Wonga-Wonga Pigeon. 



,, Black Bearded Dove (or Spanish Partridge). 

 ,, Franciscan Dove. 

 ,, Malayan Ring Dove. 



CHAPTER IX. 



SUB-FAMILY GEOTRYGONINAE. 



The Rufous Dove. 



,, Solitary Ground Dove. 



,, Violet (or White-fronted) Dove. 

 Wells' Dove. 



THE RUFOUS DOVE. 



(Leptoptila Reichenbachi). 



Habitat. — South Brazil and Uruguay. 



Length. — 10 to 11 inches. Shape, long legged, 

 but stoutly built. 



Colouring. — ^Adult male — Top of head and fore- 

 head whitish grey, back of head purplish. Cheeks, 

 throat, and upper breast ruddy vinous, changing 

 into drab white on the lower parts. Wings and 

 back olive brown, with blackish quills to the 

 wings. Tail feathers brown, changing into black 

 with white tips. Legs red, beak slate. Iris straw- 

 coloured. A beautiful purple wash, like bloom, 

 goes over the shoulders. The hen is very similar 

 to the cock. 



WILD LIFE. 



Dr. Butler tells us that Burmeister regarded the 

 Rufous dove as one of the commonest kinds he met 

 in the forest region. He did not find it in the 

 open, but onl}' in the narrow forest paths, where 

 it could easily escape danger. It builds its nest 

 rather high up amongst the thick trees. 



LIFE IN CAPTIVITY. 



The nesting of my Rufous doves has always 

 been one of the pleasantest incidents in my birds' 

 annals. It is six 3'ears ago since they nested, and 

 I still have my old cock, but from some wing 

 injury he is now unable to fly, though he keeps 

 very healthy and strong. 



I bought a pair of doves in 1903 that were 

 supposed to be Rufous doves, but only the hen 

 bird was true to name, the other bird being a cock 

 Solitar)' Ground dove ; these two birds nested, but 

 it came to nothing. In November of this same 

 year I bought a true pair of Rufous doves, and 

 these birds were both alike in plumage. They 

 began to nest in March, 1904, but the eggs got 

 broken and the nests were failures. I then put 

 my first bird in the same house, and the cock of 

 the true pair quickly turned to her, forsaking his 

 own mate, and three or four dax's later they were 

 sitting. The three birds agreed, but I thought it 

 better to remove the odd hen into another aviary, 

 and here she formed a great friendship with a 

 Violet dove that could not fly. It is a curious fact 

 worth mentioning that after it became friends with 

 the Violet this Rufous always kept to the ground, 



