MY FOREIGN DOVES AND PIGEONS 



The young one's colouring on leaving tine nest 

 was very like that of the old birds, but it lacked the 

 purple tint on the breast, the sheen on the neck, 

 and the orange eyes. Its head was greyish, with 

 a light dun forehead, and the back of the neck dark 

 grev. The breast dun grey, shading into pure 

 white on the under parts; the back dark dun; the 

 wings dark brown, with two bands of copper 

 across each (in a later nestling these bands were 

 lacking, but the wings were spotted with copper 

 instead ; perhaps this bird being much weaker 

 lacked enough feather to make a perfect line). 

 These lighter markings disappear when the birds 

 are a few weeks old. The tail of the young Soli- 

 tary was olive-dun, with the three outer feathers 

 on each side tipped with white, and the next two 

 pairs with lighter tips. 



In July the Solitary doves nested again, but 

 failed to rear any young ; later still another nest 

 was made and one young one hatched, but 

 when still in the nest it began to fail, and one day 

 was found dead. I think it was really hatched too 

 late; the days and nights had begun to be cold, 

 and the little thing did not thrive properly. 



Another young bird hatched in 1908 — some four 

 5'ears later — was most carefully tended by a hen 

 Bronze-wing, who brooded both it and her own 

 young one. The two young doves were great 

 friends, and the Solitary used to nestle up to the 

 Bronze-wing, but unfortunately its parents neg- 

 lected it and it died a few days later. 



I have had the Solitary doves some eight years, 

 and every year they nest often and fertile eggs are 

 laid. Yet my first young one was my last ; I have 

 never reared a young Solitary to maturity save in 

 this one instance ; it seems very strange, for the 

 breeding of this one particular bird was so easy. 

 I have never known this pair of doves to be tire- 

 some with others of their tribe. I have them still, 

 and they are quite gentle to the other inmates of 

 the aviary. The young bird, who must now be 

 about six years old, I gave awa}^ to a friend. 



This voung one, unlike his parents, is a very 

 bad-tempered bird, though I believe a good deal of 

 this is due to his loneliness in having no mate. 

 My old birds are at the present time — June, 1910 — 

 nesting again, they having had several eggs this 

 season, but so far no young ones. The hen is a 

 very nervous bird, the cock being far steadier; 

 some time ago he lost the sight of one eye, pro- 

 bably through a stab from another bird ; you could 

 not tell, unless you held him in the hand, that the 

 eye was injured, so it has fortunately not spoilt his 

 beauty. 



I consider these doves very hardy; I cannot find 

 any record of their being kept at the Zoological 

 Gardens. 



THE VIOLET (OR WHITE-FRONTED) 

 DOVE. 



[Leptoptila jamaicensis). 



Habitat. — Jamaica. 



Length. — About 11 inches. Shape, rounded, but 

 well proportioned. 



Colouring. — Adult male — The forehead, cheeks, 

 throat, breast, and under-parts snowy white. The 

 top of the head a soft ash-grey. The back and 

 wings olive brown, but the shoulder butts are very 

 pure white and the long wing quills blackish. The 

 tail is olive-brown above, and black and white 

 beneath. The back and sides of the neck the most 

 beautiful metallic colouring, changing in every 

 light, the chief colour being pinkish, shot with 

 golden green and again with bluish green, first 

 one colour showing and then the other. The 

 pinkish colour is more noticeable on the sides of 

 the neck, and in some birds comes down so low as 

 to form a background for the white shoulder butts, 

 throwing up their whiteness in a most striking 

 way. The feet are crimson, the beak blackish 

 grev ; a dark line runs from the beak to the eye. 

 The iris is light straw-colour surrounded with a 

 ring of reddish skin. The female is smaller and 

 slighter than the male, her forehead more greyish, 

 the white parts not quite so pure. 



WILD LIFE. 



Gosse tells us that the Violet dove is chiefly 

 found in the upland districts; he notes that it is a 

 species that habitually lives on the ground, walk- 

 ing' about picking up various seeds. The physic 

 nut, orange pips, and sop-seeds, as well as large 

 fragments of the mango-seeds (chewed by the 

 hogs), form some of its favourite foods. The flesh 

 of the Violet dove is considered good to eat, being 

 "white, juicy, and well-flavoured, without being 

 liable to bitterness." 



It has no regular roosting-place, often spending 

 the night on some low log or stone near the place 

 where it fed at nightfall. The nest is often built 

 in the log-wood, or if in the woods a fairly tall tree 

 is chosen. The nest is composed of a few loose 

 twigs and some leaves in the centre. The Violet 

 dove is often caught by the natives, being easily 

 taken in springes. The coo of this dove is five, 

 very melancholy notes, and the negroes, who 

 delight to translate the voices of birds into words, 

 ascribe to it the call of "Rain-come-wet-me- 

 through." 



Gosse notes what a gentle bird the Violet dove 

 is, and tells how he once took one in his hand, 

 just caught in a springe, and it nestled comfortably 

 down, "permitting its pretty head and neck to be 

 stroked, without an effort to escape, without a 

 flutter of its wings." 



