88 



MY FOREIGN DOVES AND PIGEONS. 



are finer than wild caught ones that have not been 

 reared on so generous a diet? It would be 

 interesting to know. 



These two cocks ma}' be living still ; I heard of 

 them long after they left me. The third young 

 bird, though it lived to be adult, was never strong, 

 and died on the way to a new home in Ireland. 

 Another very fine pair of young ones died in the 

 nest. "Joey" was a most zealous parent; she 

 would leave the nest to drive off a Picui dove that 

 she considered was coming too close, and then 

 quietly return to her treasured eggs. She finally 

 died one winter, and was evidently a great age and 

 possibly past breeding; but I think her life might 

 have been prolonged if I had brought her into the 

 heat during the cold weather. Bleeding Hearts 

 cannot stand cold ; perhaps it is their continual 

 wandering on the ground that chills their feet, for 

 the toes seem apt to suffer. 



"Joey" was one of the plainest Bleeding Hearts 

 I have ever seen ; the skin on her head was all 

 drawn, and most of it bare ; this injury was done 

 before I had her by a rat, her previous mate being 

 murdered outright. My Scotch cock, "Jim," had 

 lost his hen too, before he came to me, from the 

 same cause, and I am sure in bird language they 

 told each other this mutual trouble. They were a 

 most devoted pair, and after "Joey's" death "Jim" 

 refused to look at either of the pretty new hens 

 I bought for him. Later on one of these hens 

 scraped the top of her head, giving her a faint 

 resemblance to the departed "Joey"; and after 

 this, though it sounds strange, "Jim" took to her. 



The Bleeding Heart is a dove you cannot force 

 in its likes and dislikes ; it must be allowed to 

 choose for itself. I find the cocks have one very 

 bad habit — some of them chase and worry the hens 

 ■ so during the nesting season that in one case a 

 beautiful hen I had died ; but perhaps I ought to 

 say one cock was the chief wrongdoer, and he has 

 steadied down as he has grown older. 



The Bleeding Heart is not always good-tempered 

 towards other doves. It is fond of mealworms, 

 and delights in a little "soft food," ground nut, 

 and ground biscuit. I really think the "soft food" 

 is almost a necessity — besides its grain diet — to 

 keep this dove in perfect feather. 



When frightened the Bleeding Heart has a 

 curious habit of running into a corner, where it 

 stands for long with its back to you, the feathers 

 held very close to the body, the head lowered. 

 When the cock coos he throws himself right back, 

 almost resting on the tail, and puffs out the breast 

 and "heart" to quite an imposing size. I do not 

 find that these doves care to nest if more than one 



pair of them is kept in the same aviary, but on the 

 other hand, when put together for the winter in 

 heat, they seem to delight in being in a little band, 

 and to see them thus is one of the prettiest sights 

 in my aviaries. 



The young birds are rich chocolate brown in 

 colour, with three distinct buff bars across the 

 wings, and just a tiny red line down the breast to 

 show )'ou where the heart is coming later on. The 

 wings are as if tucked up, and the beak very large 

 and long. Two da}'s after coming out of the nest 

 m}' first young one could Hy, though he had such 

 short wings. It was a pretty sight to see the 

 3'oung birds standing on tip-toe beside "Joey," 

 and kissing her face over and over again. They 

 were also great friends with the little baby Senegal 

 doves. "Joey" was much more with her young 

 ones than the cock was. 



At the present time you can get Bleeding Heart 

 pigeons for about 45/- a pair, but they would not 

 be aviary specimens. These are worth about 30/- 

 each bird. It is a dove that is very difficult for 

 anyone (who has not kept a good many) to sex ; so 

 many birds are often sold sexed wrongly, or not 

 in true pairs. 



I have heard an old legend about the Bleeding 

 Hearts, but do not know if it is true as to its 

 source. It is said that when Christianity was first 

 preached in the Philippines the people were found 

 to be heathens, but at the same time having a 

 legend that long ago the Bleeding Heart pigeons 

 had white breasts, but, on one settling on the 

 Cross, and being shot by a Roman soldier, ever 

 afterwards the bird had the red patch or "Heart 

 of Remembrance." It is supposed Christianity 

 had been preached to these islanders }'ears before 

 by a shipwrecked Friar, and that all his teaching 

 was forgotten save this legend. I have been told 

 that the extraordinary influence of the Friars over 

 the native population in Luzon is proverbial, and 

 was probably the main factor in determining their 

 existence for three centuries under Spanish Grovern- 

 ment, the Philippines being discovered in the i6th 

 century. 



In an allied species of the Bleeding Heart, that 

 lives in the Malay States, a similar legend is 

 assigned b}' the natives ; in this bird the red patch 

 is not so vivid as in Luzonica, where the effect is 

 most realistic. 



This pigeon was kept at the Zoo so far back as 

 i86i, and has bred there several times. I have 

 never seen two Bleeding Hearts qzdte alike. In one 

 bird the "heart" will be a little larger, in another 

 perhaps smaller; a third bird has longer legs, and 

 in a fourth the grej' on each side of the breast 



