THE MOURNING DOVE. 557 



tinge, paling on throat; a blue-black spot below the ear; tail graduated, central 

 feathers like back ; the remainder slaty at base, blackening distally, then abruptly 

 white for terminal inch ; foreparts below deep vinaceous, fading into cream-butif 

 on lower belly and crissum ; axillars and under wing-coverts light bluish gray ; 

 bill black; bare space about eye light blue: feet lake red. Jciult ft'iiiale: Similar 

 to male, but bluish of hind head and neck restricted or wanting; less iridescence; 

 underparts and forehead light drab tinged with vinaceous on breast. Immature: 

 Like adult female but duller, without iridescence; black spot below ear wanting; 

 feathers of foreparts above and below tipped with whitish. Length about 12.00 

 (304.8); wing S.75-6.00 ( 146. i-i 52.4) ; tail =;.7S-6.5o (146.1-16^.1); bill .57 



(I4-5)- 



Recognition Marks. — Robin size ; sober, blended colors ; rapid, graceful 

 flight, accompanied by whistling sound of wings ; mournful, "cooing" notes. 



Nesting. — Nest: a frail platform of twigs or straw at moderate heights in 

 trees or on stumps, rocks, etc. ; sometimes on the ground. Eggs: 2, white. Av. 

 size, 1. 08 X. 82 (27.4x20.8). Season: April-August or even September; monthly 

 broods or three or four in a season. 



General Range. — Temperate North America, from southern Maine, south- 

 ern Canada and British Columbia, south to Panama and the ^^'est Indies, breeding 

 thruout its North American range. 



Range in Washington. — Common summer resident in Upper Sonoran and 

 Transition life-zones east of the Cascade Mountains, diminishing in abundance 

 northerlv ; rare or casual only west of the Mountains. 



Migrations. — Spring: Apr. 17, 1900, Yakima Co.; Apr. 22, 1896, Chelan. 



Authorities. — [Lewis and Clark, Hist. Ex. (1814) Ed. Biddle ; Coues. Vol. 

 II. p. 18=;.] Zciiaidiira caroliuensis. Bonap. Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. 1858, 

 p. 605. T. C&S. D'. Sr. Ra. D-'. Ss'. Ss=. J. B. E. 



Specimens.— U. of W. P. Prov. B. E. 



THE Mourning Dove is not at all the doleful creature which its name 

 would indicate, altho its voice is, in sooth, the appointed instrument of melan- 

 choly. Melancholy i-s not exactly the word either — there is in the Dove's note 

 nothing of sadness unless you yourself are sad. It is rather tender and 

 solemn, the expression of a true-hearted lover whose thought is not alone of 

 passion, but of exalted privilege and well-weighed responsibility — youth that 

 dares all, but not recklessly. 



The familiar, long-drawn "mourning" notes are uttered only by the male, 

 and for all their tenderness they have a penetrating quality, which makes 

 them one of the most insistent elements in the chorus of springtime. Besides 

 these the birds make no other sound, unless we count a musical wing-note 

 which is made when suddenly taking flight, and which is so distinct that one 

 can never be quite satisfied that it is not a vocal outcry. The same note, 

 moderated, is heard in mid-flight, and also with renewed force when the birds 

 are checking their flight or alighting; and it is so exactly timed with the wing 

 movement that we must conclude its external origin. 



