ORNITHOLOGY 



309 



A Dove's Nest in a Cactus Thicket, 



BY DR. R. MENGER, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS. 



I am sending a photograph of two 

 yonng doves in and out of the ordinary 

 nesting haunt inside of a blooming 



TWO YOI/.\(, li()\i:S IN iNEST IN CACTUS 

 THICKET. 



cactus thicket. In this location these 

 young Texas wild doves had ample 

 security from marauding animals of 

 the jungle, including snakes, the prairie 

 rat and various rodents. An addition- 

 al interesting fact is that it is remod- 

 eled from an old abandoned nest of 

 the cactus wren. The old dove, in 

 this instance, as it is occasionally ac- 

 customed to do in other birds' nests, 

 built a new nest with only a few dry 

 grasses placed directly on that of the 

 wren. I have often during the breed- 

 ing time of our prairie birds encoun- 

 tered similar nests of the wild dove 

 inside a cactus jungle. One showing 

 the eggs was, a few years ago, pub- 

 lished in your magazine ; I am glad 

 to add this which shows the young 

 doves so well. 



Do Birds Sing for a Human Audience? 



Nashua, New Hampshire. 

 To the Editor : 



In regard to your recent letter, ask- 

 ing if T have ever known birds to sing 

 especially for a human being, or in any 

 way respond to a human being's song, 



whistle or call, 1 gladly give you my 

 experience and my opinion. I have 

 had responses from many birds, after 

 imitating their call, from a loon on a 

 lone wilderness lake to a chickadee 

 about my home. But it is clear to me 

 that the birds mistook my calls for 

 those of kindred birds. The chickadees 

 acted as if greatly puzzled, peering at 

 me as if to discover where the concealed 

 bird may be. Loons are full of curios- 

 ity and may be lured close to shore by 

 imitating their wild cries. Owls are 

 prone to answer when imitated. 



Many birds sing about our homes, 

 but they sing just as joyously when far 

 removed from human beings. It is 

 easy to imagine that they sing for our 

 pleasure, but I have never known a bird 

 to do so, and I believe they never do. 

 Still I am not dogmatic on the subject. 

 I have learned to maintain an open 

 mind. But I want strong evidence. 

 Male birds (the males do practically all 

 the singing) perform for the benefit of 

 their mates, or sing for the very neces- 

 sity of singing that is laid upon them. 

 It is as natural for a bird to sing at 

 nesting time as for a lamb to play ; 

 play and song are in their blood. Cage 

 birds appear to sing for human beings. 

 But they are in a class by themselves, 

 artificial living having changed their 

 habits. 



Yours sincerely, 



Manley B. Townsend. 



Birds and Human Audience. 



Watertown, New York. 

 To The Editor : 



The Guide to Nature came today. 

 I was much amused by the criticism 

 on my song bird sketch. The natural- 

 ist that wrote it knows infinitely 

 more about the structure of birds and 

 about their proper scientific label than 

 I do, but I doubt if he has been more 

 ,intimately associated with the song 

 birds that build close to human dwell- 

 ings than I have been for more than 

 seventy years in country homes, north 

 and south, east and west. 



I gave those instances as unusual, 

 but in accordance with what I have 

 seen and heard. I could give others. 

 While most birds are timid and cease 

 to sing when one or more persons come 

 near them, there are exceptions. I 

 would not on any account have missed 



