Carl N‘aether—Nesting Notes on Bronze-wing Pigeons 195


Pigeons showed any inclination to mate. On 10th January I observed

the male in his typical love pose : lowering his head and spreading

his wings to disclose to a rather unconcerned female his featherly

irridescence. Three days later, the birds began to build a nest with

small twigs in a large hanging basket. It was a simple but

substantial affair, this first nest. About this time the male Bronze¬

wing became quite pugnacious, chasing the other occupants of the

aviary, including his mate, from corner to corner. Occasionally

the female would sit on the nest for short periods of time, but it

was not until four days later that she laid her first and rather

pointed egg, which she refused to incubate. Often after midnight

I heard plainly the low and rather plaintive call of the male,

followed at short intervals by his mate’s “ grunts


Seemingly displeased with their initial effort at home-making,

the Bronze-wings left the first nest exactly four days after the

first and only egg was deposited—in order to build afresh. In

a secluded, half-dark corner of the aviary they found a suitable

box at an approximate height of three and a half feet. On

29th January the hen laid one egg and again refused to sit on it.

On 4th February the birds proceeded to build their third nest, in

which, again, but one egg was laid, but this time the birds brooded

for three days, the cock during the day and the hen during the

night. Being very tame and very friendly, the birds hardly took

any notice of me when I entered their abode, except occasionally

to ask for a bit of hempseed of which they seem extraordinarily

fond. This time two eggs were laid, but Mrs. Bronze-wing showed

no desire whatever to incubate them. During all these weeks the

male was still sounding his low mating note. I placed the eggs

in the nest of some other doves, but they were both not fertile.

A dealer informed me that this infertility was undoubtedly caused

by the birds being a nest-pair, of which assumption, however, I

had no proof whatever. However, the breeder from whom the pair

was purchased, assured me that infertile eggs were by no means

rare among Bronze-wing and' other foreign pigeons, especially

among young pairs, and that I might confidently expect fertile eggs

later on—a prediction which in this case came true.



