186 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



Genus ZENAIDURA Bonaparte. 

 ZENAIDURA MACROURA (Linn.). 



136. Mourning Dove. (31(3) 



Biownish-olive, glossed with blue on the urowii and nape; below, purplish- 

 red, becoming tawny white on the vent and crissum; neck, metallic-golden; 

 a velvety-black spot on the auriculars and others on the wing coverts and 

 scapulars ; middle tail feathers, like back ; the rest, ashy-blue at the base, then 

 crossed by a black bar, then white or ashy-white; bill, very slender, black; 

 feet, carmine; the female and youiuj differ as in the wild pigeon. Length, 

 11-13; wing, 5-6; tail, 6-7. 



Hab. — North America, from so\ithern Maine, southern Canada and Oregon, 

 south to Panama and the West Indies. 



Nest, usually in a tree or bush, sometimes on a log or on the ground, com- 

 posed mostly of twigs. 



Eggs, two, pure white. 



The Mourning Dove breeds sparingly throughout Southern Ontario, 

 but is more common farther south. It feeds in the open fields on 

 berries, buckwheat and- the seeds of certain weeds, but on being 

 disturbed, seeks shelter in the nearest woods. 



It is a gentle, timid species, and as it does not occur with us in 

 sujfiicient numbers to make it worth following, it is seldom disturbed. 

 It is one of the most difficult birds the collector undertakes to handle, 

 the skin being so tender that should the bird be brought down even 

 from a moderate height the fall is almost sure to burst the skin and 

 destroy the specimen. For this reason the greatest care is necessary 

 when preparing the skin for the cabinet. 



Ontario is about the northern boundary of this species, and it is, 

 therefore, not so numerous as it is in many places farther south. 

 Dr. Coues says that it is "the most widely and equally diffused of its 

 tribe, abundant in most localities, in some, swarming. ' Millions ' in 

 Arizona, for example. Irregularly migratory, imperfectly gregarious ; 

 great numbers may be together, but scarcely in compact flocks." 

 They leave South-^rn Ontario about the end of September, and are 

 not seen again until April. They are recorded as rare summer 

 resi lents in Manitoba. 



