Fie MY FOREIGN DOVES AND PIGEONS. 
known way injured her wing and was never able 
to fly again. I placed her a sort of ladder (made 
of a sloping branch) up to the fir boughs that were 
lashed to the aviary walls, and she was soon able 
to mount up to the highest point, right up under 
the roof. She was apt, however, if startled, to lose 
her balance and fall, and, as the hurt wing was of 
no use to her, she fell rather heavily. Unknown 
to me this caused a large raw wound in the lower 
part of the poor bird's breast, but it did not bleed, 
and was so covered by feathers that I did not for 
some time discover it. It was so large a hurt that 
I was in two minds whether or not to have her 
destroved, but she was spared, and the cause of her 
accident being removed, she quite recovered, the 
wound entirely healing. 
Though her life was now spent nearly on the 
ground (so low down she could not injure herself), 
this dove lived many years, and died chiefly from 
old age. I should never again allow a crippled 
bird to mount tuo high. Doves cannot cling like 
parrots, and so save themselves a fall. A little 
perch, made of a broom handle, costing 2d., can 
always be nailed across a corner of the aviary, and 
so protect the bird's feet from the danger of get- 
ting dirty and chilled, as they would be if com- 
pelled to always be on the floor. 
At Woburn Park the Duke of Bedford has a 
flock of wild Crested doves, and about 40 specimens 
were turned out loose at the Zoo a short time ago 
as an experiment. It seems to have answered, for 
later one of the keepers saw a group of 14 feeding, 
and many were young birds. 
This dove varies much in the colour of its 
plumage. I have had birds deep slate grey, and 
again others the most delicate shade of pale ash. 
The latter are the prettier to my thinking, but the 
metallic shades seem deeper and richer in the 
darker birds. 
The Crested was first bred at the Zoo in 1872, 
and has been often bred in private aviarics. The 
value keeps always about the same, namely, 20/- 
for an adult pair of birds. It is a very hardy dove, 
especially when one considers the great heat it 
lives in in its native country. IT have known birds 
desirous to nest in January, with 14 degrees of 
frost. 
CIITAPTER IX. 
SUB-F.AMILY GEOTRYGONINAE. 
The Rufous Dove. 
5, Solitary Ground Dove. 
., Violet (or White-fronted) Dove. 
Wells’ Dove. 
The Partridge (or Red Mountain) Dove. 
,, The Bleeding Heart Pigeon. 
,, Wonga-Wonga Pigeon. 
,, Black Bearded Dove (or Spanish Partridge). 
» Franciscan Dove. 
»» Malayan Ring Dove. 
THE RUFOUS DOVE. 
(Leptoptila Reichenbachi). 
Habitat.—South Brazil and Uruguay. 
Lengih.—1o to 11 inches. Shape, long legged, 
but stoutly built. 
Colouring.—Adulc male—Top of head and fore- 
head whitish grey, back of head purplish. Cheeks, 
throat, and upper breast ruddy vinous, changing 
into drab white on the lower parts. Wings and 
back olive brown, with blackish quills to the 
wings. Tail feathers brown, changing into black 
with white tips. Legs red, beak slate. Iris straw- 
coloured. .\ beautiful purple wash, like bloom, 
goes over the shoulders. The hen is very similar 
to the cock. 
WILD LIFE. 
Dr. Butler tells us that Burmeister regarded the 
Rufous dove as one of the commonest kinds he met 
in the forest region. He did not find it in the 
open, but only in the narrow forest paths, where 
it could easily escape danger. It builds its nest 
rather high up amongst the thick trees. 
LIFE IN CAPTIVITY. 
The nesting of my Rufous doves has always 
been one of the pleasantest incidents in my birds’ 
annals. It is six years ago since they nested, and 
I still have my old cock, but from some wing 
injury he is now unable to fly, though he keeps 
very healthy and strong. 
I bought a pair of doves in 1903 that were 
supposed to be Rufous doves, but only the hen 
bird was true to name, the other bird being a cock 
Solitary Ground dove; these two birds nested, but 
il came to nothing. In November of this same 
year I bought a true pair of Rufous doves, and 
these birds were both alike in plumage. They 
began to nest in March, 1904, but the eggs got 
broken and the nests were failures. J then put 
my first bird in the same house, and the cock of 
the true pair quickly turned to her, forsaking his 
own mate, and three or four days later they were 
sitting. The three birds agreed, but I thought it 
better to remove the odd hen into another aviary, 
and here she formed a vreat friendship with a 
Violet dove that could not fly. It is a curious fact 
worth mentioning that after it became friends with 
the Violet this Rufous always kept to the ground, 
