BAXn-TAILED PIGEON 585 



numbers of pigeons thronged the brush-covered slopes of Pinoche 

 Peak. Mariposa County, and literally stripped the manzanita bushes 

 of their berries. In winter the birds often feed on the abundant fruits 

 of the toyon oi- Christmas berry {Heteramelcs arhutifolia). Earlier 

 in the fall they resort to the fruit of the coffee berry {Rhamnus, sev- 

 eral species), and that of the elderberry (Samhucus glauca) and the 

 chokecherry (Prunus demissa). 



Toward the end of wintei-, the fruit and nut crops become ex- 

 hausted and then the pigeons subsist on the flower and leaf buds of 

 the same plants that produced their sustenance earlier. Dean (1904, 

 p. Ill) says that in February the pigeons in tlie Sierran foothills at 

 Three Rivers, Tulare County, feed on manzanita buds ; and in south- 

 ern California ihey luive repeatedly been observed to feed on oak 

 buds. One observer described a bitter taste to the flesh which was 

 thought to have been developed by a diet of oak buds and acorns 

 (Belding, 1879, p. 437). 



In southern California in early spring the sycamore balls are 

 frequently eaten. No less than thirty-five of these ball-like flower 

 clusters have been counted in the crop of a single pigeon (Evermann. 

 1886, p. 92). Fruits of the Nuttall dogwood, wild peas, and various 

 small seeds are known to have been taken. Finally, in two in.stances, 

 pine seeds have been found in the birds' crops: in Calaveras County 

 in July (Belding, 1890, p. 21) ; and on Mount Pinos, Ventura County. 

 June 29 (Grinnell, 1905, p. 382). It is, of course, probable in these 

 cases that either the cones were fully ripe and the scales spread so 

 that the seeds could be readily extracted, or that the seeds were picked 

 up from the ground beneath the trees where the}' had fallen. 



The above-mentioned articles of diet include only wild fruits, such 

 as are of indifferent value to man. At times, however, pigeons have 

 been found to resort extensively to grain fields. In many cases the 

 birds have repaired to stubble fields where they gleaned the waste 

 grain, wholly worthless of course. Thu.s, near Three Rivers, Tulare 

 County, in July, 1891, pigeons were observed foraging in barley stub- 

 ble (A. K. Fisher, 1893a. p. 31). In a few instances, newly sown 

 grain has been resorted to, with the result that more or less damage 

 has been inflicted — the only way in which Band-tailed Pigeons are 

 known to affect man's interests unfavorably. At Palo Alto in Janu- 

 ary, 1901, good sized flocks were observed on newly sown barley fields, 

 and the crop of a bird taken then was crammed wdth seed barley 

 (Grinnell, MS). A pigeon taken at Crescent City, Del Norte County, 

 May 15, 1916, was found by us to have in its gullet 509 grains of 

 barley, 23 of oats, 6 of corn, and some fragments of acorns. At Santa 

 Monica, in February and March, 1901, flocks were feeding in grain 

 fields. Their depredations were complained of by a rancher who 



