56



Correspondence



until it was opened when he would rush back to the Fowl pen. Several times

I had him carried up to the pond and placed thereon. He left the water

quickly and evidently thoroughly disgusted. He would mate with no Duck

but mated, or attempted to, freely with the Hen. We had to separate him

from them upon this account. Nothing we could do would make him

associate with his own species. He was eventually killed by one of my dogs.


H. Moore.



A SECOND EGG-TOOTH IN YOUNG PIGEONS


For the last two seasons we have reared young from a pair of Grey-fronted

Ground Doves (Leptoptila rufaxilla), and it has lately been observed that the



young possess an egg-tooth on the lower as well as on the upper mandible.

The tooth is well developed and can clearly be seen in the enclosed photograph.


At the time of writing the two young are still in the nest and growing

remarkably fast, as is the case with most Pigeons.


R. R. MmcHiN (Adelaide).


In the Avicultural Magazine of 1908 (p. 341), in describing the

breeding habits of the Partridge Bronze-wing Pigeon ( Geophaps scripta),

Mr. T. H. Newman pointed out the presence in the nestlings of “a white

knob on both mandibles at tip ”, and further remarks : “ The upper one

is of the usual triangular shape, but unusually large, while the lower one takes

the form of a flattened semi-circular nail. I am not aware that an egg-tooth

on the lower jaw has been recorded in any species of bird, but it is evidently

not so uncommon among Pigeons, as I found it present in newly-hatched

young of the Brush Bronze-wing ( Pimps elegans ), but very much smaller,

and, to my surprise, I could just detect it in two young Picui Doves ( Golumbula

picui) and in a young Diamond Dove ( Geopelia cuneata ). ... It would be

interesting if our members would examine any young Doves or Pigeons

that they may have hatched and report if they find it present. I think the

young of Columba and Turtur have no trace of it.”


Subsequently Mr. Whitley discovered a second egg-tooth present in the

nestlings of Oreopelia montana, as recorded in this Journal (1925, p. 277),

with an illustration.— Ed.



