AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 



137 



binding them together; or you may find one composed entirely of 

 several kinds of weeds. 



Although more often found upon the spreading branches of a tree 

 from which they are easily blown off in a storm, yet they are some- 

 times built in a crotch at the trunk. Among the fresh green grass of a 

 closely burnt prairie a Dove's nest is sometimes found, — there in a 

 little depression on the bare earth the eggs are laid. 



In the green field many doves fly up just ahead of the reaper, leaving 

 nests that are little better than the bare earth. You will notice that 

 such a nest does not even have a lining — only a few straws being 

 scattered over the depression. And since the food of Doves consists 

 largely of seeds and grain, these birds are more plentiful in the great 

 wheat belt than elsewhere. 



One moring last June I chanced to notice a new Cat-bird nest con- 

 taining one Cat-bird egg. That afternoon as I passed the place I 

 noticed a Dove perched across the nest, and later I found a white eg^ 

 beside the other one. But the next moring I found that Mrs. Cat-bird 

 would not tolerate trespassers — the egg had been promptly thrown out. 



The nesting period of the Doves continues about all through the 

 summer; but a set of eggs consists of only two. 



YOUNG MOURNING DOVES. 



