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SUMMARY. 



Doves, though not equally abundant in all places, are found 

 throughout the United States, migrating each spring and fall. 

 The breeding season begins, in the South, about April 1, being 

 a month later in the North, and lasts through September, both in 

 the North and South. Two, or sometimes three, broods are 

 raised, each brood requiring at least six weeks to rear. The young 

 are fed generally but twice a day, and the parents wander far 

 to forage for food, which consists exclusively of seeds, berries 

 and grain. Mature size is acquired in five or six weeks at the 

 most. Change in plumage begins between the seventh and eighth 

 weeks; the time of molting varies according to the physical con- 

 dition of the individual. Enemies, at least in certain localities, 

 are numerous, as evidenced by the fact that but few young ma- 

 ture, compared with the number of eggs laid. Their numbers 

 in certain parts are such as to be of some importance in the econ- 

 omy of nature, while as a game bird they are of no small value 



Through man's agency, doves have diminished in numbers to 

 a point where they are of little commercial importance; yet 

 through legislation, rigidly enforced, they will soon increase and 

 may become of great value. No two states in the Union have 

 uniform bird laws, and hardly two in which doves are protected 

 alike. The present laws, if strictly carried out and respected 

 by hunters would, no doubt, be sufficient, but much more is to be 

 gained by uniformity, combined with rigid enforcement. Doves 

 need to be protected as much as any other game or insectivorous 

 bird, in that they are beneficial to the farmers of our land, be- 

 sides being an important game bird in certain sections. The closed 

 season ought to be, as is the case in all states in regard to part- 

 ridges and quail, extend over the breeding season, allowing the 

 adult a fair chance to rear their young. 



THE RAISING OF YOUNG AMFELIS CEDKORUM. 



Note. — The following is one of the several experiments that 

 have been made by the author with the idea of raising young 

 birds to an adult state, as normally as possible, under changed 

 environment, having in mind the ultimate object of noting the 

 results of artificial and no training on the song of birds which 

 had been taken from their natural element. For this purpose, 

 the following species of birds have been raised bj' hand, from 

 the time they were one, two or three days old : "Wax-wings, 



