148 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE Vol. XXV, 1918 



Ler 10 and a rare winter resident. In the fall of 1912 three 

 mounaiiig doves remained about an open pasture until Decem- 

 ber 4. A bird reported by Mr. Henry Friese spent the winter 

 of 1914-1915 about the barn yard of his place (the writer saw 

 the bird February 21). 



The mourning dove nested commonly throughout the region 

 under discussion. The favored site seemed to be in the conifer- 

 ous trees or fruit trees about farm buildings. On May 30, 1915, 

 twelve nests containing eggs or young were found in a small 

 grove of spruce containing possibly a hundred trees. On June 

 4, 1915, fourteen occupied nests were found in another little 

 grove of conifers less than two miles distant from the one visited 

 on May 30. Little attention was paid to the nesting of this spe- 

 cies except in 1915. The earliest date noted on which eggs were 

 found was May 23, 1915. The eggs hatched May 30. The latest 

 date is July 16, 1915, when a nest containing two eggs was found. 

 One nest discovered June 5, 1915, contained one egg. The second 

 one was laid on June 6 and the eggs hatched on June 21. This 

 gives an incubation period of fifteen days. 



Most of the nests seen in this locality were of the usual type — 

 that is flimsy, loosely woven platforms built in conifers, fruit 

 trees, etc. Three unusual ones were noted. A nest found on 

 June 6, 1913, was built in the hand of a stone figure on a monu- 

 ment in the Marshalltown cemetery. A very few sticks had been 

 placed in the hand before the eggs were laid. This nest was 

 about ten feet from the ground. Two pairs found in 1915 (May 

 30 and June 4) were using old robins' nests. 



60. Catltartes aura septentrional es. Turkey Vulture On Oc- 

 tober 4, 1913, the writer collected a juvenal female turkey buz- 

 zard at Clay Bluffs. (Auk, Vol. XXVI, p. 255, April, 1914.) 

 The bird was resting on a willow stub near the water's edge and 

 took wing as we approached. Another bird was seen the same 

 day and again on October 12. On May 12, 1915, Mr. Charles 

 Metcalf reported that he had found a nest (two eggs) of this 

 species in a hollow stump near jMormons Ridge. June 24 the 

 writer visited tliis nest with him and found a single do'\\Tiy 

 young. The nest was visited at intervals till July 14 at which 

 time the nestling was nearly full grown. The wing quills were 

 developing rapidly and the body feathers were beginning to 

 show through the down. A number of unsuccessful efforts were 



