88 
tb.e Higlit and perched therein . I then left them to explore 
(|uietly at their leisure the aduiuuiuii new siirroundint;^s ; later ' 
noticed that they seemed to prefer and spent qnite a lot of time 
on the .n'ronncl, bnt still kept timid and shy. 
In May ! noticed that a nesting site had been selected on a 
flat-toi)ped clump of hay, resting on some dead branches 
fastened against a wall in the inner or covered portion of the 
aviarv. and in an excellent spot for observation. The birds 
e\idently took this clump to be a ready-made nest, for very 
little indeed was added. ( )n the 8th one buff egg was laid, and 
a second on the following day. The male shared in the task 
of incubation, but both birds remained so shy and timid that, 
although 1 did not enter their enclosure to feed them, but fed 
them in a recessed cupboard which opened into an inner service 
passage, the slightest movement on my part in pulling out the 
seed drawers sent either of the birds wildly off the nest at once ; 
this unfortunately ended in disaster, for, on the morning' of the 
iJth the male bird madly Hew out of the nest, pulling an egg out 
after it. which was. of course, broken. 1 then went in to 
examine the nest and found that it sloped outwards, also that 
tlie remaining egg was also in a precarious position, so in 
spite of what the birds would do or think of my interference, 1 
propped u]) the nest so as to let the upper surface slope on all 
sides to the wall: this answered cjuite well, and in due course 
the egg hatched sometime on May 22nd, just fourteen days from 
the laying of the first egg. 
The youngster was of a swarthy flesh-colour, with 
scanty buff down on its body, and a little white tip at the end of 
its beak, but on the next day, the 23rd, the general hue of the 
i)ird was much darker, its colour being of a blue-black tone all 
over, and was not by any means a pretty creature to look at. 
On the 26th I noted that the bird was growing well and could 
open its eye.s ; feather stubs were showing well on wings, tail, 
and body. On the 28th, when six days old. I found that the 
wing-sheaths had grown extraordinarily long and had little 
brown tips; all other stub-feathers were more developed. On 
several occasions I saw the hen feeding this youngster from 
its cro]), as is usual with doves and pigeons. Since the 
hatching of the young bird the i)arents have become less wild, 
esiiccially the hen. who would remain in the nest even when I 
