THE OOLOGIST. 



The Mourning Dove. 



NEST AND 3 EGGS OF MOURNING 

 DOVE. 



Now in the collection of K. B. Mathes, 

 Batavia, X. Y. 



Several times I have been very 

 close to one when he was pumping 

 and I once stood within 15 feet of 

 one where I plainly saw him, before, 

 while he was in the act and after the 

 "pumping." This bird was standing 

 among the cat-tails in the water in 

 a marsh, his neck and bill pointing 

 nearly straight up. The pumping be- 

 gan with two or three low short notes 

 which sounded much like water flow- 

 ing from a jug (Gu-Gu-Gu)). These 

 notes cannot be heard unless one is 

 quite close. Then came Gung-Gee-Gee- 

 um, the accent on the second sylable. 

 This is repeated three or four times 

 and is loud and resonant and as Mr. 

 Reinecke says, can be heard nearly 

 one-half mile away. That the noise 

 is i)roduced from the throat I am 

 very positive as I could plainly see 

 the head and neck moving and the 

 vibration of the feathers on the neck. 

 Let us hear from others on this sub- 

 ject. 



VERDI BURTCH. 



In the mountains of Virginia the 

 Mourning Dove is a constant breeder 

 seven months in the year. Although 

 it breeds more abundantly among the 

 mountains, it is not at all uncommon 

 throughout the pine regions to the 

 seashore. 



Its first appearance in my locality 

 this year was March 9, when on 

 walking through a field of broomsedge 

 and pine bushes, three flew up at dif- 

 ferent intervals; but on several pre- 

 vious years they have appeared dur- 

 ing the latter part of Februai-y. The 

 earliest breeding period commences 

 about April 10, and although several 

 of my books record nests taken in 

 March, and one of them, even in 

 February; the earliest date I myself 

 record is April 18, when a nest of two 

 fresh eggs was found on the top of 

 a stump six feet high in the midst 

 of a dense woods. 



In the mountains of Albemarle 

 county the Mourning Dove breeds in 

 colonies among the young pines, 

 many of which are interlaced with 

 grape vines, and bordering on the 

 sloping hillside of a small stream. In 

 one particular spot there is not a 

 time from May to September that sev- 

 eral nests are not in course of con- 

 struction or incubation going on. The 

 greatest breeding season of the year 

 is during July, when as many as twen- 

 ty nests may be found in every stage 

 from those only partly constructed to 

 those containing young birds able to 

 fly. None of these nests were over 

 20 feet in height, the average being 

 16 feet, and the most of them were 

 placed out on the end of the lower 

 limbs, while a few were in the very 

 top of the tree, and many of them 

 were so loosely constructed that they 

 could easily be seen through. The 

 lowest nesting site I ever saw was 



