46 MY FOREIGN DOVES AND PIGEONS. 
THE MADAGASCAR TURTLE-DOVE. 
(Turtur Picturatus). 
Habitat.—Madagascar. It has also apparently 
been introduced into the surrounding islands, 
namely, Réunion, Mauritius, Seychelles. 
Length.—Between 11 and 12 inches. 
strongly built, but well proportioned. 
Colouring.—Dark grey head, paler on the chin; 
mantle and upper neck rich maroon purple, faintly 
speckled with small dark spots; upper wings 
rufous brown, lower half of wings olive brown, 
long wing quills blackish with lighter edges, lower 
back olive brown also. Breast light vinous, under 
parts whitish, under tail feathers black and white, 
upper tail feathers brown. Beak light grey, basal 
half pinkish grey. Eye rich ruby, naked skin 
round eye dark red, feet crimson. Hen very 
similar to the male, but smaller and duller. 
Shape, 
WILD LIFE. 
These doves are said to be very common in 
Madagascar, where they are found in the planta- 
tions and cultivated fields in small flocks of 6 to 8. 
They walk well, and fly rapidly without noise, and 
can turn quickly if pursued. They make great 
ravages in the rice fields, both at the time of sow- 
ing and harvest, being largely grain eaters. The 
nest is flatly and roughly made of grasses and 
small roots, and is placed in low-growing trees. 
The eggs are white, and two in number. This 
dove is said to be good eating, the flesh being very 
delicate. 
LIFE IN CAPTIVITY. 
I have kept the Madagascar Dove for only a 
year or two, and have not so far reared any young 
ones, though the birds have had several nests and 
laid eggs. My present pair of birds sit very 
steadily indeed for a time, and then without warn- 
ing will desert the nest. Yet you would think 
when they first began to sit that nothing would 
move them, they sit so closely. To Mr. Newman 
belongs the honour of first breeding the Mada- 
gascar dove in Great Britain. 
He considers it the least graceful of any Turtle- 
dove he has seen, the tail being relatively short 
and the legs rather long, whilst the bird’s body is 
a very sturdy shape. The notes of this dove are 
varied, one, its fighting note, consisting of a sort of 
grunt, whilst its coo proper is one of ‘‘considerable 
sweetness,’’ the bird drawing himself up very 
straight, and then bowing low to the ground as he 
utters it. The eggs are large for the size of the 
bird. Two eggs, deserted, taken from my own 
doves vary very much in shape, one being oval 
(with one end rounded, the other end slightly 
pointed), the other egg being very round and full, 
shorter than the other and with scarcely any point 
at the one end. 
Mr. Newman's birds built their nest of quite 
strong twigs, making a very firm nest; they sat 
well, and the young when hatched were covered 
“with bright yellow down, almost reddish fawn 
on head, back, and outer edges of wings.’? The 
first young plumage, after the downy stage, is very 
different from the parent birds, for they lack the 
vinous purple almost entirely, being brownish 
grey, with the feathers edged with chestnut, the 
chestnut tips to the wing feathers forming two 
distinct bars across it. There are no dark marks 
on the neck. The young birds bred later by 
another aviculturalist had a ‘greenish tinge’? to 
the plumage, but this was not visible in Mr. 
Newman’s birds. .\t eight weeks old the eldest 
young bird had many purple feathers on the 
shoulders, and the chestnut edges to the feathers 
had greatly faded. 
The old birds proved excellent parents, the hen 
hitting out with her wings if the nest were too 
closely looked at, and if obliged to leave it she 
would flap her wings and try to draw observation 
from the nest by pretending to have injured her 
legs, dragging over the ground as if she was hurt. 
It is unusual for a captive dove to act in this way, 
though frequently done by some species in a wild 
state. 
This handsome dove was first kept at the Zoo 
in 1866, It seems hardy and able to stand the cold 
well, always looking “tight”? in feather. I have 
found my birds rather inclined to be aggressive 
to other species of doves, but Mr. Newman found 
his birds fairly amiable; but it would be unfair to 
judge on my part from one or two specimens, for 
birds differ in their characters as much as human 
beings. 
Since IT wrote the above my birds have hatched 
one young one, and look like rearing it. It is 
about half the size of the adult bird and still in the 
nest, the hen sitting on an egg, newly laid, in the 
same nest. When I went to inspect the nest the 
other day (the old bird being off it) the young bird 
raised itself on its legs and made a most curious 
noise at me—a sort of hissing sound. It looked 
exceedingly strong and healthy, but was the ugliest 
young dove, I think, I have ever seen, the down on 
it being so very hairy. 
The old birds have so far been splendid parents, 
and I have seen the little creature’s bare crop 
(before its skin was so covered with down and 
feathers), looking so very full that it hung like a 
bag at the side of the neck, and the wonder was 
it was not killed with kindness; it looks like 
making a very fine bird. 
