CHAPTER XXVI 



A COOING PAIR 

 THE PASSENGER PIGEON AND THE MOURNING DOVE 



" You all know the Pigeons that are kept about 

 stables and barnyards. You have often seen them 

 walking with dainty steps to pick up their food, and 

 have heard the soft crooning ' coo-oo ' they give when 

 talking to each other. They all belong to the Birds 

 that Coo. Their food is taken into the crop, which 

 can be plainly seen when it is quite full. These birds 

 feed their young in the same way Hummingbirds and 

 Flickers do ; for they give the little ones softened food 

 from the crop, mixed with a sort of milky fluid that 

 also comes from the crop. One habit that Pigeons and 

 Doves have, all their own, is that in drinking they do 

 not raise the head to swallow like other birds, but keep 

 the beak ii^the water until they are through. 



" Our domestic Pigeons have beautiful and varied 

 plumage, but to my mind many wild species surpass 

 them. The two best-known wild species are the Pas- 

 senger Pigeon of the Northwest, and the Mourning 

 Dove, which may be found nesting everywhere in tem- 

 perate North America. 



'^ Here are the two birds " — and the Doctor set them 

 upon the table. '' At first glance you may think them 



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