THE DECEPTIVE AND DAMARA TURTLE-DOVES. 51 
hen still went on laying after the nest pans were 
cut down for the winter. 
THE DECEPTIVE TURTLE-DOVE. 
(Turtur Decipiens). 
Habitat.—East Africa from Dongola to the 
Zambesi. 
Length.—About 12 inches. 
Barbary. 
Colouring.—Adult male—Upper parts pale 
earthy brown, slightly reddish, anterior part of 
head above ashy, changing into vinous on the hind 
part and nape. On the hind neck a broad black 
collar, edged above with ashy white. Upper 
breast a beautiful vinous, chin and throat whitish, 
under parts whitish, but grey on under tail coverts 
and lead grey on flanks. The tail is grey or 
brownish, earthy-brown in the centre, some of the 
feathers having narrow white tips. The iris is 
buffy orange, the bare skin round the eye grey 
tinged with pink, feet carmine, bill black. 
Shape, rather like a 
WILD LIFE. 
This dove in various forms has a wide range 
over Africa. One writer says of it that it is quite 
one of the commonest doves in the Soudan, and 
that it keeps much to the vicinity of the rivers. It 
builds in the Acacia bushes, and the nest is lightly 
built of twigs. One form of this dove was so 
common and clustered so thickly on the trees that 
five or six might be killed with one cartridge. The 
pigeons were great drinkers, and the flocks used 
to come down to the river morning and evening. 
When they returned at night ‘‘they would rise to a 
great height, and circling round, plunge down 
headlong, like our wood pigeons, into the trees 
used as roosting places.’’ 
LIFE IN CAPTIVITY. 
The same consignment of doves that brought 
me my Tambourine doves and others from Africa, 
in March, 1902, also included four Deceptive 
Turtle-doves. Two of these I had the misfortune 
to lose. The two others I kept until 1905, when 
I parted with them. They were very handsome 
birds, but very nervous, and one of the surviving 
two twice had a fit. The first fit was brought on 
by fright at the sight of a Long-tailed Glossy 
Starling; perhaps its formidable tail may have 
caused the dove to be alarmed. It flew against 
the wires very badly, and rolled over and over on 
the ground, and then went quite stiff. I dashed 
cold water on it, and afterwards put it in a 
darkened cage. Later on it had a second seizure, 
but was all right by night. Nor to my knowledge 
did. it ever have another fit afterwards. 
This dove has a most peculiar coo, it is scarcely 
like the note of a bird and is more like a scream 
from a cat. Mr. Newman (who later owned my 
two birds) noted that this particular call was used 
by both sexes, and was generally made when the 
bird alighted on a bough, or was about to attack 
an enemy, or sometimes when on the wing. The 
other call, as when the cock was attracting the 
hen, or when he was in the nest calling her, was 
quite a different sound. My birds proved to be two 
cocks, but fortunately Mr. Newman was able in 
1906 and 1907 to procure two hens. These birds 
came from Kordofan, and formed part of a collec- 
tion of African birds gathered from the White Nile 
for the Girza Zoological Gardens, Cairo. The 
birds nested often, but failed time after time to 
raise their young to maturity, that grave fault in 
doves—neglect before the young can do for them- 
selves—being the entire cause. The nest was 
made of a thick mass of twigs, so high that some 
of the twigs had to be cleared away to prevent the 
eggs rolling off. 
I have several times known doves do this or even 
pile up another layer of material over the eggs, 
and lay a fresh clutch on the top. The eggs of the 
Deceptive Turtle-dove ‘‘are rather small for the 
size of the bird, pure white, rather glossy and 
round, though three laid in 1908 are rather larger 
and longer in shape. The eggs generally hatch 
on the 13th, sometimes on the 14th day after the 
second egg is laid.”’ I cannot find a record of this 
dove being kept at the Zoological Gardens. I have 
only kept it this single time when it was sent 
over by a friend. I have never known it offered for 
sale. 
You will notice in the description of this dove 
that the feet are carmine. There is no exception 
to this rule in any dove that I know—I mean that 
the feet and legs are some shade of red or crimson. 
It may range from crimson purple to the faintest 
flesh colour, but it is always a variation of the 
same shade. The Arabs have an old legend to 
account for this. They say that the first time the 
Dove returned to the Ark it bore the olive branch, 
but gave no other sign of the state of the earth; 
but on its second visit its feet were covered with 
red mud, clearly showing it had walked on earth 
already freed from the water. To record the event 
Noah prayed that the feet of these birds might 
ever continue red colour, and his prayer was 
granted. 
THE DAMARA TURTLE-DOVE. 
(Turtur Damarensis). 
Habitat.—Angola, Damaraland and East Africa, 
from Transvaal to Mount Eglon, and also the 
Comoro Islands and Madagascar. 
