BAND-TAILED PIGEON 359 



was peculiar. Instead of spreading out they kept together, alternately walk- 

 ing and flying. Those behind would fly a few feet ahead of the advance line, 

 alight, and walk along picking up grain until other rear ones would fly ahead 

 and it came their turn again. In this way the flock advanced, some in the air 

 all the time and ground was covered quite rapidly. 



Behavior. — Except during the nesting season, band-tailed pigeons 

 are decidedly gregarious, flying about in large, open, or scattered 

 flocks, formerly in flocks of hundreds, but now more often in flocks 

 of dozens. They are fond of perching for long periods in the tops 

 of tall trees; in the leafless sycamores in winter the flocks are very 

 conspicuous, but among the thick foliage of live oaks or eucalyptus 

 they are well hidden. If approached too closely, they will begin to 

 leave, a few birds at a time, with loud flapping of wings, and there 

 are usually a few laggards that slip away from some unseen spot at 

 the last moment. Their flight is strong, direct, and very swift, re- 

 minding one of domestic pigeons. According to Grinnell, Bryant, 

 and Storer (1918), "in passage down a mountain side, the flight is 

 inconceivably swift, the wings being held close in to the sides, beat- 

 ing only at long intervals, and the body veering slightly from side 

 to side in its arrow-like course. This headlong flight produces a 

 rushing noise as of escaping steam." 



Voice. — The cooing notes of the band-tailed pigeon are much like 

 those of the domestic pigeon. Doctor Grinnell (1905) says that 

 " their deep monotonous coo' -coo, coo' -coo, coo' -coo, or tuck-oo', 

 tuch-oo' was a frequent sound on Mount Pinos." Mrs. Florence M. 

 Bailey (1902) writes: 



If you follow the pigeons to their breeding-grounds in some remote canyon 

 you will be struck by the owl-like hooting that fills the place, and you will locate 

 the sound here and there along the sides of the canyon at dead treetops, in 

 each of which a solitary male is sunning himself, at intervals puffing out his 

 breast and hooting. The hooting varies considerably. Sometimes it is a calm 

 whoo'-ivhoo-hoo, tchoo'-hoo-hoo, and others a spirited hoop'-ah-whoo', and again 

 a two syllabled ichoo'-ugh, made up of a short hard hoot and a long coo, as if 

 the breath was sharply expelled for the first note and drawn in for the second. 



The method of uttering the notes is described in detail by Joseph 

 H. Wales (1926) as follows: 



When the male pigeon starts this performance he usually maneuvers around 

 for a firm footing and perhaps opens his bill slightly once or twice. Next he 

 stretches his neck out in a line parallel with the axis of his body, and bends 

 his head down to a right angle. With his bill open a crack he gives one gasp 

 which fills out the skin of his neck until about three times natural size, and 

 at the same time utters a very faint oo which is not usually audible over twenty 

 feet All of these are preliminary actions, as directly following the first sound 

 comes the whoo-oo. This hoot is made by a quick expelling of the air from 

 the bird's lungs, and is accompanied by a slight downward push which seems 

 to give abruptness to the first note. The swelled neck skin is not reduced, as 

 the bill is opened and the lungs are refilled for the following coo. There are 



