50 MY FOREIGN DOVES AND PIGEONS. 
visited Dublin in 1849, as the procession passed 
under an arch in Eccles Street, a dove was lowered 
into the Royal carriage. The Queen took the bird 
gently in her hand and placed it beside her, amidst 
loud cheers from the large crowd. 
One more point about the Barbary and I must 
pass on to another kind. It is an interesting 
explanation I once read of that well-known verse 
in the Psalms so fascinating in its imagery and 
yet at the same time apparently hard to under- 
stand. ‘‘Though ye have lien among the pots, 
yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove that is 
covered with silver wings, and her feathers like 
gold.”’ In Eastern countries the house roofs are 
flat, and all the rubbish of the house and broken 
pots—that we should dispose of right away-——are 
still carried up and emptied on the house roof, and 
here the semi-wild Barbary doves settle in flocks to 
find any stray bits of food. Suddenly a noise 
startles them, and they rise and swirl upwards, 
their feathers looking first white as silver against 
the deep blue sky, then changing to gold as they 
catch the sun’s rays. Now read the verse again 
and you will understand what David meant when 
he took this little scene from everyday bird life as 
the rising of a soul from the darkness of sin into 
light. 
THE HALF-COLLARED TURTLE. 
(Turtuy semitorquatus). 
Habitat.—Inhabits Africa from about 14 latitude 
southward. Common at East Soudan and other 
parts of South Africa. 
Length.—About 12 inches. 
and strong-looking. 
Colouring.—General colour a rich vinous, pinker 
on the breast and shading on the wings and back 
to a browner tint. The forehead is whitish grey, 
this being more distinct in the cock than in the 
hen. A broad black collar, very narrowly edged 
with grey above and below, encircles the hinder 
part of the neck. The eyes are orange-red, the 
eyelids red. The bill is black and the feet red. 
The sexes are very similar in colouring, but the 
forehead is not so white in the hen as in the cock. 
Shape, very fine, 
WILD LIFE. 
Dr. Butler tells us it nests in the forks of 
Acacias or silk trees during and after the rainy 
season; it feeds on berries, grain, small seeds, and 
stone fruits. Mr. Robin Kemp found it resident 
throughout the year and very common in South 
Eastern Sierra Leone. It assembled in flocks 
of from 30 to 4o birds. 
LIFE IN CAPTIVITY. 
The Half-Collared Turtle is a very fine, well- 
shaped dove, but being large in size it does not do 
in a small space. The colouring is very rich, and 
a bird in good plumage is very handsome, the red 
eye seeming just the touch of colour needed to 
complete the harmony of the whole. It is a hardy 
bird, and has often been bred in England. The 
eggs are two in number, large and white, and they 
hatch out in the short period of 12 days. The 
young birds are very much the colouring of the 
parents, but considerably duller, and lack the black 
collar and the red eye. The hairy down, so mixed 
with the feathers in some young doves, is very 
conspicuous in this species. 
In March, 1902, I had a pair of these birds sent 
me direct from Africa. They began to nest in May 
of the same year and bred many times. When first 
I had them they were excellent parents and good 
sitters, but later they failed to rear their young 
ones so successfully. I parted with them, and I 
believe they did just as well in their new home; 
probably they had hardly sufficient space when 
with me. 
I found these doves a strange mixture of bold- 
ness and timidity. They were constantly driven 
about the aviary by a dove much their inferior in 
size, and yet on the other hand they boldly beat 
off with their wings my old Masked Parrakeet, 
“‘Jack,’’ when he was climbing up to inspect their 
nest, and he retired very discomfited. I have 
found it does not answer to try and keep the parrot 
tribe and nesting doves together. Amongst 
parrots and parrakeets I have had three different 
birds that were all egg-eaters or egg-destroyers, 
and in one case I caught a parrakeet in the act of 
eating a fat young Picui dove which it had robbed 
from the nest. 
My young Half-Collareds were some of them 
very wild, and would dash about the aviary unless 
great care was used. This is not a rare dove, 
about 12/6 to 15/- will buy a pair, but it does not 
seem imported very regularly. It was first kept 
at the Zoo in 1870, and later bred there. In 1907 
some Half-Collareds were included amongst the 
five kinds of doves that were liberated in the 
Gardens as an experiment, to see if they would 
settle and breed there, but I do not know if this 
particular kind did well or not. 
When sitting my birds were very devoted to 
each other, and the one not actually on the nest 
would keep guard over it continually. The birds 
were much tamer whilst nesting. I found very 
often only one egg was laid at a sitting, but I do 
not know if this is the general rule or not. They 
were anxious to nest all the year round, and the 
