BLEEDING HEART PIGEON. 



in another less green and much more purple. This 

 metallic green also shows on the lower back, which 

 is blackish brown, as are also the long wing 

 feathers and the tail. The wings are clear light 

 grej' crossed by two distinct bars of blackish 

 brown ; the shoulder also shows some greenish 

 reflections. The cheeks, throat and breast are 

 white, being verj' pure on the first-named parts. 

 In the centre of the upper breast is a blood-red 

 irregular patch, looking as if the bird were 

 mortally wounded. The feet are crimson, the beak 

 slate-black, the iris purple. The hen bird is 

 smaller than the cock and more slightlj' built, the 

 neck especiall}' being more slender. The metallic 

 green is less vivid in the hen, and sometimes the 

 under-par.;s are bufifish. 



Young Bleeding Heart Doves. 



From The Avicullural Magazine. 



WILD LIFE. 



The Bleeding Heart is often found for sale in 

 the Manila market, being a very favourite bird of 

 the Spaniards. This pigeon is commonly known 

 as Pufialada, meaning "stabbed with a dagger." 

 Very little seems known of its wild life. There 

 is a legend that there is a variety pure white except 

 for the "heart," but I think this must be a wood- 

 land myth of the natives, for I have never heard of 

 a live specimen, though I have seen it illustrated 

 in an old book on pigeons. 



LIFE IN C.XPTIVITY. 



I have kept many Bleeding Heart pigeons, for 

 I must confess to a great weakness for them, and 

 a desire (wiseh' ungratified) to buy everj-one I see 

 offered for sale. .At the present time I have nine 



specimens — four true pairs and an odd hen. Three 

 of the cocks I have had for some time. One of 

 these was bought nine years ago last March for 

 the very small sum of lo/-, and this price included 

 a white Java sparrow. I think the dove's owner 

 must have got tired of keeping an odd bird, for I 

 can never understand why he sold him for so 

 little. 



In the same 3'ear, in September, I bought a 

 supposed hen from a gentleman in Scotland, and 

 the jo}' of the first bird was great — he puffed him- 

 self out and cooed and sat on the same perch dress- 

 ing the new arrival's feathers; at night they were 

 on the nest-basket, and the cock-bird sat in the nest 

 and quivered his wings ; and yet, would you believe 

 iv, all the time these birds were two cocks, and I 

 never found it ont until some time 

 later. 



I advertised for a hen-bird, but 

 got no response — nothing at all save 

 a letter from a lady, a complete 

 stranger to me, asking if I had a 

 spare ccck to part with, as she had 

 a hen that had laid a great number 

 of eggs and she had spent a small 

 fortune in trj'ing to find a mate for 

 her. This letter put a bold plan 

 into m3' head. My two cocks Mere 

 such beauties that I did not want 

 to part with them, but at the same 

 time I had a great wish to breed 

 this dove ; so I wrote to the lady 

 and said, will you let me have 5'our 

 bird for the summer, and if I can 

 rear an\' young ones we will divide 

 them ? After a few days an answer 

 came that " Joey " was to come 



to me The letter went on to 



say how very much the lady valued 



her pet, for it used to let her 



catch it without being frightened, 



and it would often come and settle on her head, 



and coo and flutter its wings when she spoke to it. 



The affection the lady had for the bird was 



evidently so genuine that I began to regret what 



I had done. Suppose the bird died whilst with 



me ! I began to imagine all sorts of dreadful fates 



for it, and felt quite uneasy. But in bird-keeping 



disasters come soon enough without anticipating 



them. "Joey" arrived in March, and never had a 



day's illness till she died between one and two 



years afterwards. She had man}' nests, and three 



young ones lived to be adult. 



The first two were from one nest, and turned out 

 later to be both cocks. They were two of the finest 

 birds I have ever seen. I wonder if it is true that 

 aviarj-bred birds (where the parents have always 

 had more than enough food to feed the young with) 



