BAND-TAILED PIGEON 361 



numbers. In spite of their slow rate of increase they could hold 

 their own against natural' enemies, but they could not long resist the 

 terrible slaughter by man when congregated in their winter quarters. 

 Fortunately, they are now protected against this. 



Mr. Willard (1916) says that in Arizona " the Prairie Falcon and 

 Cooper Hawk take considerable toll from the flocks. These two ter- 

 rors of the air will dash into a tree and grab a pigeon off a branch, 

 rarely making an unsuccessful raid. The Prairie Falcon is the chief 

 offender." Mr. Kitchin tells me that, in Washington, " apparently 

 the only enemy these birds have during the breeding season is the 

 local gray squirrel 1 , which I know on more than one occasion has 

 taken possession of the nest, using it as a foundation and adding to it 

 to suit himself, and once I found the egg of the pigeon buried under 

 the structure that the squirrel had added." 



Winter. — Grinnell, Bryant, and Storer (1918) say that — 



north of the northern boundary of California the Band-tailed Pigeon is wholly 

 migratory. It seems inevitable that this northern-bred contingent should move 

 south into California for the winter season, and there is, therefore, little reason 

 to doubt the inference that the birds which concentrate in winter in west- 

 central and southern California, represent the entire pigeon population of the 

 Pacific coast region. If this be true, it is of course apparent that, as far as 

 the whole Pacific coast region is concerned, California alone is, in winter, 

 responsible for the existence of the species. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — British Columbia, the Western United States, and Central 

 America. 



Breeding range. — The breeding range of the band-tailed pigeon 

 extends north, to southwestern British Columbia (Courtenay and 

 Chilliwack). East to British Columbia (Chilliwack) ; Washington 

 (Everett, Seattle, Tacoma, and Kalama) ; Oregon (Beaverton) ; 

 northeastern California (Lyonsville and Stirling City) ; Colorado 

 (Estes Park and the Wet Mountains) ; New Mexico (Tres Piedras, 

 Pecos Baldy, Sandia Mountains, Capitan Mountains, Sacramento 

 Mountains, and Guadalupe Mountains) ; western Texas (Dog Can- 

 yon, Fort Davis, Marfa, and Chisos Mountains) ; and Puebla (Las 

 Vegas). South to Puebla (Las Vegas) ; Durango (Otmapa Ranch) ; 

 and Lower California (Cape San Lucas). West to Lower Cali- 

 fornia (Cape San Lucas, Victoria Mountains, and El Sauz) ; Cali- 

 fornia (Laguna Mountains, Cuyamaca Mountains, Pine Mountain, 

 San Jacinto Mountains, Mount Wilson, Mount Pinos, Lopez Canyon, 

 San Jose, Lagunitas, Gualala, Eureka, and Crescent City) ; Oregon 

 (Lookingglass, Newport, and Astoria) ; Washington (Granville, La 

 Push, and Neah Bay) ; and southwestern British Columbia (Lake 

 Cowichan and Courtenay). 



