Doves . 
125 
young at a time, never more than two, but more 
often only one, and the little Dove is a real dar- 
ling when it hops first upon the perch, and sits 
there, looking like a bundle of fluffy feathers. 
The old Dove sits for about fifteen or sixteen 
days — the eggs are very pretty and quite milk- 
white ; but they don’t build much of a nest. A 
little shallow wicker basket which will wash out 
easily, tied to the cage in one corner, does best for 
them to sit in — it should not be hung too high — « 
and the Doves will most likely content themselves 
perfectly with a few straws or bents of stiff dry 
grass, laid crosswise, for a nest, which certainly 
does not make a luxurious bed for the nestlings. 
These birds, like most others, have a great 
dislike to their eggs being interfered with. 
They feed their young from food out of their 
own crop ; millet-seed is particularly good for 
them, and corn, and you must take great care 
that, especially with young nestlings, the food and 
water is given very often fresh and that the cage 
is kept very clean. The earlier in the morning 
that the Doves can go out in summer the better 
it is for them. In a sheltered veranda, indeed, I 
have often known them left out all night in nice 
fine summer weather. 
