THE BLACK-BEARDED DOVE (OR SPANISH PARTRIDGE). 



93 



down of an excitable cock Bar-shouldered dove, 

 who, with tail raised like a spread fan, used to 

 perform before the Black-beardeds. Be3'ond look- 

 ing a little astonished they would be quite un- 

 moved. They kept much to the aviary floor, which 

 is tiled, and whether from this cause or not I do 

 not know, but one of the birds got thickened legs 

 (almost like the scaled leg in a fowl). Mr. New- 

 man (to whom I sent the dead bird, thinking he 

 might like the skin) noticed this, and liindly sug- 

 gested that nossibly it was caused through the bird 

 not having grass to walk on, the tiles being tou 



changing from grey to drab, and a Picui dove from 

 grey to almost black. It would be interesting to 

 know the true cause. 



For some years I kept these doves without their 

 making any attempt to nest. I tried them in 

 different places, but without success. In 1907 I 

 put them in a low duck-house with a wire run 

 filled with long grass, partially screened over to 

 make a quiet corner, and I also put a sod of turf 

 in the shut-off shelter in the inner part. But my 

 hopes came to nothing, and in removing the birds 

 to their winter quarters I let one escape. It was 



YouxG Dwarf 



Photo by Mr. M'. E. Teschemaker. 



hard. I followed his advice and moved the two 

 remaining birds — whose legs also looked rather 

 thick — into another aviary with a grass flight. 

 Here they wonderfully improved, and further, one 

 bird that had moulted out a lot of white feathers 

 (instead of maroon, as they should have been) 

 gradually lost all this, and became its proper colour 

 again. 



At the present time my birds have no trace of 

 white feathers in the dark plumage ; does it mean 

 that it is a sign of weakness to produce wrongly 

 coloured plumage? In two other cases I have 

 noticed a change of colour — a Diamond dove 



Ground Dove. 



From " Bird Notes." 



off like a rocket, with a very strong and swift 

 flight. I had little hope of seeing the bird again, 

 as it flew towards the town, unless some honest 

 person caught it and answered the advertisement 

 that I at once saw was put out, offering a reward 

 for its return. The remaining bird was shut off in 

 the wire-fronted shelter, and the door of the flight 

 left open, and a pot of food put inside to tempt the 

 truant back if it should return. To my joy next 

 morning the lost bird came back, and it was so 

 hungry and pleased to see its mate again that it 

 was easily caught with some grain placed in a 

 trap-cage. The bird looked puffy for several days, 



