. My foreign doves and pigeons. Pigeons. MY FOREIGN DO\ ES AND PIGEONS. three green, changing; to rich fier}- copper, the last row large patches of violet, changing into Prussian blue. The rest of the body is vcrv like the plumage of a pheasant, being brownish mottled feathers, the crown of the head olive brown, with a dull purplish band over the eye. The hen has a whitish forehead, her breast is paler, not so rich a shade of purple. The bronze in the wings is more greenish gold in the first three rows and purple in the hind row (lacking the red copper and blue in the cock); her shape and mott
. My foreign doves and pigeons. Pigeons. MY FOREIGN DO\ ES AND PIGEONS. three green, changing; to rich fier}- copper, the last row large patches of violet, changing into Prussian blue. The rest of the body is vcrv like the plumage of a pheasant, being brownish mottled feathers, the crown of the head olive brown, with a dull purplish band over the eye. The hen has a whitish forehead, her breast is paler, not so rich a shade of purple. The bronze in the wings is more greenish gold in the first three rows and purple in the hind row (lacking the red copper and blue in the cock); her shape and mottling is very pheasant- like. The eyes are full and dark, the feet salmon red, the beak slaty black. In shape the Bronze- wing is rather long than rounded; it is a heavily- built bird, and the legs look rather short in propor- tion to the body. WILD LIFE. Perhaps there is no foreign pigeon that has been written about in its wild state so mucn as the Bronze-wing. (Jould savs of them : "Thev love to dwell on the most sterile plains, where they feed almost exclusively on grass- seeds, and whence, on the approach of evening, the\ wing their way, with arrow-like swiftness, to the water-holes many miles ; "In the maps the name of 'Pigeon Ponds,' ,L;iven to welcome pools of water, still marks the mode of their first discovery," so says Dixon in his account of the Bronze-wing. He also .L;ives us some of the experiences of Captain Sturt, whose A'i\id pen-pic- tures make us realise how valuable is this trait of the Australian pigeons in unconsciously guiding those travellers in need of water. To understand how great that need is, let us hear first Avhat Captain Sturt says about his loersonal experience of the heat of Australia during his all but successful effort to reach the centre of the continent. He says: "Stones that had lain in the sun were with difficulty held in the hand; the men could not always keep their feet within the glowing stirrups; if a ma
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectpigeons, bookyear1911
