6 FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



States, notably Tennessee, where in the vicinity of Nashville there 

 are many records of nests with broods during the period September 15 

 to October 7. 



GROWTH OF YOUNG 



After the young are hatched, they are fed by regurgitation on 

 "pigeon's milk," a glandular secretion produced in the crops of both 

 parents (fig. 4). Tlie young birds leave the nest at 11 or 12 days of 

 ao-e. 



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fc^^^« 



Figure 4. — Squabs are fed by regurgitation on "p'Seon's milk," a glandular secretion 

 produced in the crops of both parents. [Photographed by Allen M. Pearson.] 



The average weight of adult mourning doves is about 4}^ ounces. 

 Based on the examination of 653 immature doves by Dr. Pearson, 

 evidence indicates that 95 percent of the immature doves in Alabama 

 prior to November 20 weigh less than 3)^ ounces. He, therefore, 

 recommended that all shooting (in that State) be prohibited prior 

 to that date "to permit most of the immature birds to reach a size 

 (3K ounces) making them suitable for sport and table use." 



Of 39 immature birds killed on September 3 at Chataignier, La., 22 

 weighed less than 3)^ ounces, 9 weighing only a trifle more than 3 

 ounces, and of 93 young birds taken at Crowley, La., as late as 

 October 16, 15 were still far short of the 3K ounce standard. In a 

 small collection of 8 immature birds taken at Boyle, Miss., on Sep- 

 tember 15, there were only 2 that weighed less than SjC ounces, but 

 the largest bird weighed only a little more than 4 ounces and the other 

 5 were all grouped between Sji and 3% ounces. In a bag of immature 

 birds killed on September 1, at Pantherville, Ga., 20 percent were 



