48 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



mesticated pigeon, seem to strike over his back), 

 and flj'ing at a sharp angle to a height of a 

 hundred feet or more, when the flight ceases and 

 the bird returns to the same or another perch, by 

 sailing on motionless wings which are usually 

 held at a downward angle, like those of a gliding 

 Snipe or Sandpiper. This performance seems to 

 be purely a sexual manifestation intended to im- 

 press the female. 



The breeding habits of this bird present sev- 

 eral peculiarities. It is one of the earliest of 

 spring arrivals, its appearance being about con- 



bird's manner of feeding her young, which is 

 done by regurgitation; that is, the young take 

 their food, mixed with a light-colored fluid 

 called " pigeon's milk," from the crop of the 

 parent. The young are slow to develop their 

 power of flight, and so it happens that the mother 

 bird is often seen sitting crosswise on the nest 

 with the heads and tails of her infants protruding 

 on either side of her body. 



Apparently because of the strong and swift 

 flight of the Mourning Dove, it was for many 

 years considered a " game " bird in several of 



Photograph by A. A. Allen 



A MOURNING DOVE BROODING ITS YOUNG 



temporaneous with the Robin. Bluebird, and 

 Meadowlark. The breeding period — within the 

 bird's normal northern habitat — extends virtu- 

 ally from May to September. Incubation occu- 

 pies about two weeks and three or even four 

 broods are reared in a season. An Ohio observer 

 reports that he has found the birds incubating 

 in that State during every month excepting De- 

 cember and January, and that he has found fresh 

 eggs in a nest still occupied by birds not mature 

 enough to fly. Another peculiarity is the parent 



the States, especially in the South. Under the 

 Federal Migratory Bird Law of 191 3, however, 

 it was classed as a migratory bird, and in that 

 character was given the protection to which it 

 is entitled. George Gladden. 



The Mourning Dove is one of the most useful 

 of birds ; it feeds extensively on weed seeds, 

 frequently eating insects, especially grasshoppers, 

 but on the whole preferring a vegetable diet. It 

 has been accused of injuring ripening peas but 

 this accusation has not been substantiated. 



