WHITE-WINGED BOTE 605 



when the bird is in flight is quite striking. "When perched, the white on the 

 wings is rather inconspicuous, but in motion it shows as two broad crescents, 

 and the white crescent-shaped bar across the tail, generally spread a little in 

 flying, adds greatly in producing the striking effect. 



From the day of their arrival in spring they set up a continual call which 

 may be roughly described as Co-c6-o-co¥ -co-c6-o. This call is heard in all direc- 

 tions from morning till night and in such volume that it becomes a sort of 

 continuous bass hum, a background or sounding board for all the other bird 

 songs and calls. It lacks the plaintive tone of the Mourning Dove call, and to 

 most people becomes a dreary, monotonous droning. . . . 



Nesting begins soon after arrival in the spring and as only a slight platform 

 is built for a nest, not much time is lost in construction. The nest is prac- 

 tically the same as that of the Mourning Dove though perhaps a little larger. 

 . . . They nest in a sort of scattered colony, and frequently two and three 

 nests are seen in a large mesquite tree. In some favored groves about every 

 third big tree has one or more nests. Much of the nesting is done in May and 

 June. . . . The earliest date . . . for eggs was May 10, and at that time a 

 great many new nests were seen. In 1908 and 1909 most of the nesting seemed 

 to be done in May and June, but in 1910 the season reached well into July, 

 as in that month I found twenty-one nests containing eggs or young birds. . . . 



Xests are always, as far as my observation goes, placed in trees or shrubs 

 at varying distances from the ground. The average height was ten feet and 

 extremes ranged from four to twenty-five feet. The only nest as low as four 

 feet was built in a mesquite tree and placed on top of an old Thrasher's nest. 

 ... I found several others using old Cactus Wren's nests as foundation, and 

 one had made use of a deserted Verdin 's home. 



The eggs are a little larger than those of the Mourning Dove and lack the 

 pearly luster, the shell looking much like that of the tame pigeon's egg. Two 

 is the usual number in a nest, but July 30 I found a nest containing three 

 partly incubated eggs. 



According to Davie (1889, pp. 158-159) the eggs are ovate in 

 shape and measure 1.05 to 1.30 by 0.78 to 0.95, averaging 1.14 by 

 0.88 and 1.17 by 0.88 in two large series, respectively. This author 

 also states that the shell color ranges from white to cream. 



Continuing, Gilman (loc. cit.) says that: 



In choice of nesting sites the bird shows a decided preference for mesquite, 

 as about 70 per cent of nests noted were in that plant. About 20 per cent 

 were in willows, and 3 per cent each in eottonwood, . . . tree cholla, and . . . 

 screw-bean. . . . The dove is usually very wild on the nest, flying off when- 

 ever approached as close as twenty-five feet. Earely is the broken-wing play 

 made, though I have seen a few mild attempts at it, and occasionally one will 

 allow an approach as close as fifteen feet to the nest before taking flight. 



In addition to the wheat, these doves feed on other grains and much weed 

 seed. They are very fond of sorghum seed and large flocks gather on a field 

 of this plant. The giant cactus . . . furnishes them a large amount of food 

 also. They may be seen on top of the great columns as soon as the first 

 blossoms appear, thrusting their bills into the trumpet-shaped flowers, but 

 whether for insects, pollen, or nectar was not learned. As soon as the fruit 

 ripens, however, there is no doubt as to what thej^ are seeking. Their actions 



