FIRST-COMERS. 45 
sobbing refrain, that, tolling from afar, recalls the echoing 
of a distant church-bell— 
“Swinging slow with sullen roar.” 
The cry is frequently mistaken for that of some owl; 
but the dove does not sing at night, or some nervous peo- 
ple would grow wild. [If it did, it would take character 
as a banshee, and become a bird of evil omen. On the 
contrary, its coming in early spring is now welcomed as 
one of the first signs of the sure advance of the season, 
and its plaintive note is only a minor-tone, mingling har- 
moniously with the livelier notes of other denizens of the 
woods. 
The mourning-doves pair very early, and are as affection- 
ate in their attachments as are most of the doves and pig- 
eons, whose “ billings and cooings” have become exagger- 
ated into a proverb to express the first enthusiasm of young 
love. Their home is an indifferent affair, but perhaps its 
very scantiness may serve to benefit its owners by making 
it less conspicuous among the almost leafless branches, where 
it is likely to be placed early in the season. The nest is not 
by any means always in a tree, although a snug thorn-apple 
offers temptations that few doves can resist; but it may be 
put on the-flat top of a stump, on the protruding end of a 
