442 BULLETIN 162, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



second laying. All the nests examined by me were found in the creek bottoms 

 or else close by, generally in clumps of mesquite bushes. 



Griffing Bancroft (1930) says of its nesting sites in Lower Cali- 

 fornia : 



The Mexican ground dove is an unobtrusive little fellow, blending his colora- 

 tion into his background on every occasion, and carrying his reticence into his 

 choice of nesting sites. He certainly does like concealment for his home, far 

 more so than the birds of the opposite mainland. Trestled grapes are plentiful 

 in this part of Lower California. Commonly a beam of palm wood three or four 

 inches wide is supported on uprights at a height of five feet and a vine is trained 

 to grow over this structure. The favorite nesting site of the dove is on the flat 

 surface of the beam. The bird is snuggled in among the leaves, ideally protected 

 and hidden. 



Another popular haunt is in the palm jungles. At a height of from four to ten 

 feet and on the stems of the vertical leaves of the date palms numbers of 

 these birds build. They seek the shadows that come from heavy vegetation 

 or crossed leaves. Most of the fan palms have been trimmed, their leaves 

 being cut largely for roofing material. The stubs left are generally about a 

 foot long, smooth and well cupped. Here, hidden from below and concealed 

 from the sides, many of these doves raise their young. The preferred height 

 is twelve to fifteen feet above the ground. 



This dove is tame, flushes at close range, and plays cripple most artistically. 

 The laying season begins the middle of April. The nests are the most sub- 

 stantial of any of the local Columbidae and often attain a thickness of an 

 inch or more. They are built of comparatively long and fine materials, palm 

 fibre and grass stalks being the favorites. They are well matted and the 

 strands are twisted spirally to form a flat disc to which is added somewhat 

 finer material in the center. Fifty-four eggs collected from Santa Agueda to 

 San Joaquin average 21.9X16.3 millimeters. 



John C. Fortiner (1920) reports three interesting records of winter 

 nesting of this dove in Imperial County, Calif. On December 21, 

 1919, he found a dove brooding a single squab in its nest in a 

 eucalyptus tree; the nest was well built and was placed on some 

 lodged bark, well hidden from view from the ground. A second 

 nest was found on January 22, 1920, containing one young bird; 

 "this nest was also in a eucalyptus tree, about 18 feet from the 

 ground, and was a rebuilt mourning dove's nest. This second nest 

 was watched, and on February 14 was seen to have a sitting ground 

 dove on it. The two eggs it contained were collected the next day 

 and found to have been incubated already several days." 



Again (1921) he writes: 



The Mexican ground dove appears to be partial to old nests, using its own or 

 that of a mourning dove generally; but I have seen a pair trying a Sonora 

 red-winged blackbird's nest ; and during 1921 a pair has used an old Abert 

 Towhee's nest for three broods, beginning to sit January 30, on the first eggs, 

 and June 21, on the third set. 



M. French Gilman (1911) says: 



The nests are fairly well made for doves and are composed mostly of rootlets 

 and small twigs. One nest rather more pretentious than usual was made of 



