34 
.1/v Stock Doves. 
" fine Mulum or Curassow-Turkey that ran about the houbc. It was a 
" large glossy black species, iiaviiig an orangc-coloureil beak, surmounted 
" by a bean-shaped excrescence of the same hue. It seemed to consider 
" itself as one of the family, attended at all the meals, passing from one 
" person to another round the mat to be fed, and rubbing the sides of its 
" head in a coaxinj way against their cheek or shoulders. At night it 
" went to roost on a chest in the sleeping-room beside the hammock of 
" one of the little girls, to whom it seemed particularly attached, following 
" her wherever she went about the grounds. I found this kind of 
" Curassow was very conimon in the forests of the Cupari, but it is rare 
" on the Upper Amazons. These birds in their natural state never descend 
" from the tops of the loftiest trees, where they live in small flocks and 
" build their nests. It is difficult to find why these superb birds have 
" not been reduced to domestication by the Indians, seeing that they so 
" readily become tame. The obstacle offered by their not breeding in 
" confinement, which is probably owing to their arboreal habits, might 
" perhaps be overcome by repeated experiment, but for this the Indians 
" probably have not sufficient patience or intelligence." 
Their nests are built of sticks, and only two white eggs 
are laid. Several other species occasionally find their way to 
our Zoological Gardens and quite recently I have been offered 
examples of the Lesser Razorbilled (M. tonncntosa) and the 
Crested (Crax alcctor). Any of them are well worth keeping, 
if the necessary space is available. 

My Stoch Doves. 
By Laurence Pullar, F.Z.S. 
I got my Stock Doves from Mr. Cross, of Liverpool, in 
the autumn of 191 5. I had ordered a pair of Ruddy-backed 
Doves, but as they were sold I took the Stock Doves instead. 
They were very wild when they arrived; in fact they never got 
really tame all the time I had them. They had a nasty habit 
of flying up and hitting themselves against the roof of tlie 
aviary. I gave them an aviary to themselves, and in May 1916 
I made them a nice artificial rabbit hole for them to nest in. 
It was about five feet long and had a nest chamber at the end, 
and by removing a turf from the outside of the aviary I could 
see if there were any eggs. After a few days I noticed the hen 
carry some pieces of straw into the hole and on removing" the 
