402 LAND-BIRDS. 



height. They do not occur to the northward of southern 

 New England, where they are summer residents of great rar- 

 ity in many places, though common, according to Mr. May- 

 nard, on Cape Cod. I have seen them from March until 

 October. They frequent open woods and grounds, grain- 

 fields, pastures, and even, it is said, barn-yards. There they 

 may be seen, often in companies, now walking sedately, now 

 more rapidly, and picking up the seed, grain, berries, etc., 

 upon which they feed. Occasionally they alight on fences, 

 and flirt their long and handsome tails. They are eminently 

 affectionate toward one another, but toward man they are 

 often shy. 



d. Besides a low chuckle, they have a peculiar and very 

 striking cooing, one of the saddest sounds in nature, though 

 sweet, and wholly inexpressive of the true feelings of the 

 Doves. It usually consists of four notes, which suggest the 

 sobs and moans of a most disconsolate lover, or of a person in 

 the deepest distress. 



The briefness of this last biography will, it is hoped, be 

 excused. The author approaches the end of his long though 

 pleasurable labors with a certain feeling of eagerness and re- 

 lief, though glad to have paid even a slight tribute to nature, 

 science, and the inauguration of a second century in the life 

 of his country, for, through an unforeseen coincidence, as he 

 writes these last words, the distant boom of cannon on Boston 

 Common announces the hundredth anniversary of the Decla- 

 ration of Independence. 



