They sccni to depend on the lKr()n>, with which they associate, for warning of any 

 approadiing daii}^cr, for tlic herons arc very vigilant and watchful. 



The three to five white eggs which are spotted with shades of olive-brown arc 

 laiil in a nest which is a mere platform of sticks hiiilt in hushes, chiefly the man- 

 grove, or in small trees. 



Band-Tailed Plf^eon (Colnmba Jasdata Jasciata) 



Range: I'reeds from southwestern I'.ritish Columbia, western Washington, 

 western Oregon, northern L'tah, and north-central Colorado south through south- 

 western United States and Mexico to Nicaragua, and east to western Texas; 

 winters from southwestern United States southward. 



Though bearing no very close resemblance to the passenger pigeon, the band- 

 tail may be said to represent that bird on the Pacific coast. Like the pigeons 

 generally, the band-tails are sociable, and flocks of hundreds used to be common 

 in the oak groves of southern California. 



They are extremely fond of acorns, and although of late years persecution has 

 made them wary they will risk much to obtain their favorite food. When they 

 find a well-laden oak tree they will swallow acorns till they are full to the very bill. 

 .\s their soft bills are totally inadequate to hull the acorn, they swallow shells and 

 all, and such are their powers of digestion that they can dispose of at least two full 

 meals every day. They are said to breed in Arizona nearly every month of the 

 year, and \'ernon Bailey found them nesting in the Guadalupe Mountains, Texas, 

 as late as August. Their note in the breeding season is a hoot singularly like an 

 owl's, but most of the year they are silent. On the west coast for years they have 

 been persistently hunted, and as they breed in the mountains, which are much 

 resorted to by summer campers, the limits of the close season are by no means 

 always observed. It is high time to take active measures for the preservation of 

 the band-tail : otherwise it will soon meet the same fate as the passenger pigeon. 



875 



