. My foreign doves and pigeons. Pigeons. DWARF OR RUDDY TURTLE. 53 Length.—About 9 inches. Shape, long, but bfeautifully proportioned. Colouring.—The adult male is vinous or brick- red; the back, rump, upper tail coverts, under wing coverts, and flanks gre}'. The head is a very lovely shade of pale ash grey, a rich black collar round the hinder part of the neck dividing the grey from the red. The long wing quills are blackish, the eye dark brown, the bill black, the legs and feet purplish red. The hen is quite different to the male bird. Her general colour is soft dun, the lower parts vinous g
. My foreign doves and pigeons. Pigeons. DWARF OR RUDDY TURTLE. 53 Length.—About 9 inches. Shape, long, but bfeautifully proportioned. Colouring.—The adult male is vinous or brick- red; the back, rump, upper tail coverts, under wing coverts, and flanks gre}'. The head is a very lovely shade of pale ash grey, a rich black collar round the hinder part of the neck dividing the grey from the red. The long wing quills are blackish, the eye dark brown, the bill black, the legs and feet purplish red. The hen is quite different to the male bird. Her general colour is soft dun, the lower parts vinous grey. There is a black collar as in the cock, but edged above with whitish grey. WILD LIFE. This dove feeds largely on the ground, either in open fields or under the shade of the trees. It frequents large groves in cultivated districts, and. Dwarf or Ruddy Turtle. Plwto by Mr. D. Selh-Smith. From Tlie AvicuJiitra! Magazine. is frequently caught and offered for sale in India, but seldom finds its way to England, most of those for disposal being aviary-bred. It is very difficult to approach in its wild state, and keeps to the tree and bamboo jungle. LIFE IN CAPTIVITY. The little Dwarf turtle is quite one of the nicest doves to keep. It is so small and dainty, and the colouring very charming. Imagine a trim little dove with a soft grey head, a black collar, and warm brick-coloured body, with black wing quills and whitish grey tail, and there you have a cock bird; and the hen is no less pretty with her plumage of real "dove colour" and soft dark eyes. It is such an advantage to be able to tell the sexes easily, for as a rule doves are so much alike that it is only after years that one can single out the sex of a bird with fair certainty, and even then there is sometimes a little doubt, for one may be misled by the birds themselves. I remember two Bleeding Heart pigeons that for long took me in by their loving ways to each other, and at last I found to my surprise that
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectpigeons, bookyear1911
