26o 
I'lir I'inii Pave. 
should have saved them from the rats. The Zehra, Peaceful, 
and Cape Doves have always wintered in a well sheltered aviary 
out of doors. 
I turned the Picui Doves into a small aviary early in May, 
and they were not long in hunting out a nesting site. This 
was under the cover of the shelter, which was just as well, as the 
weather was stormy. 'J'o my surprise they huilt quite an 
elaborate nest; this had Cjuite a cup, and was well lined with 
feathers. I have kept many kinds of doves, but have never had 
a pair build anything worthy of the name of nest before, most 
of them being content with a most flimsy kind of structure. 
These little Picui Doves nested altogether four times this 
season, and on each occasion the nest was w'ell built and lined 
with feathers. 
The trouble with these birds, as with many other species 
of doves, is that they neglect their young ones. These leave the 
nest far too soon, generally before they can walk or fly, and 
then the old birds go to nest again, and are too much occupied 
to feed the young ones properly. I lost the three hrst pairs 
from this cause, and it was only this month that they at last 
succeeded in fully rearing a fine pair. These young ones were 
hatched in a nest in the aviary about Hft. from the groimd, and 
it was ten days afier they had left the nest before they could fl\ . 
Tt seems to me strange that the fall from the nest did not injure 
them in any way. At one time these birds seem to have been 
fairly frequently imported, and several of our members have, I 
believe, bred them, Init T do not think that any have been 
imported by the dealers since the beginning of the war. 
Writing of this bird in her book My Foreign Doves and 
Pigeons, our late member ]\Iiss R. Alderson, with whom I had a ^ 
good deal of correspondence at different t'mes, says : — 
" I have spoken of this dove's aggressiveness towards other doves, 
but now and again the right is on the tiny bird's side : and tlien one 
" cannot but admire its courage. I remember especially one instance. 
" A pair each of Aurita and Picui Doves were in one house, and the latter 
" had laid and were sitting well on two beautiful eggs. One night when 
" I looked around I found the hen Picui sitting, with the cock Aurita 
" roosting on the edge of the nest ; the cock Picui was outside in the flight 
" looking miserable. Next day things were worse, for I found the Aurita 
in full possession of the nest, and the poor little Picui cock standing on 
