‘THE MOURNING DOVE. — 557 
a —- —————e — 
tinge, paling on throat; a blue-black spot below the ear; tail graduated, central 
feathers like back; the remainder slaty at base, blackening distally, then abruptly 
white for terminal inch; foreparts below deep vinaceous, fading into cream-buff 
on lower belly and crissum; axillars and under wing-coverts light bluish gray; 
bill black; bare space about eye light blue; feet lake red. Adult female: Similar 
to male, but bluish of hind head and neck restricted or wanting; less iridescence ; 
underparts and forehead light drab tinged with vinaceous on breast. Immature: 
Like adult female but duller, without iridescence; black spot below ear wanting; 
feathers of foreparts above and below tipped with whitish. Length about 12.00 
(304.8); wing 5.75-6.00 (146.1-152.4); tail 5.75-6.50 (146.1-165.1); bill .57 
(455) 
Recognition Marks.—Robin size; sober, blended colors; rapid, graceful 
flight, accompanied by whistling sound of wings; mournful, “cooing’’ notes. 
Nesting.—Nest: a frail platform of twigs or straw at moderate heights in 
trees or on stumps, rocks, etc.; sometimes on the ground. Eggs: 2, white. Av. 
size, 1.08 x .82 (27.4 x 20.8). Season: April-August or even September ; monthly 
broods or three or four in a season. 
General Range.—Temperate North America, from southern Maine, south- 
ern Canada and British Columbia, south to Panama and the West Indies, breeding 
thruout its North American range. 
Range in Washington.—Common summer resident in Upper Sonoran and 
Transition life-zones east of the Cascade Mountains, diminishing in abundance 
northerly ; rare or casual only west of the Mountains. 
Migrations.—S pring: Apr. 17, 1900, Yakima Co.; Apr. 22, 1896, Chelan. 
Authorities.—| Lewis and Clark, Hist. Ex. (1814) Ed. Biddle; Coues. Vol. 
Il. p. 185.] Zenaidura carolinensis, Bonap. Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. 1858, 
pp. Gos, “I (Css, 1H, Sin, 18a, IDF Sisk. Sie Je 18 18 
Specimens.—U. of W. P. Prov. B. E. 
THE Mourning Dove is not at all the doleful creature which its name 
would indicate, altho its voice is, in sooth, the appointed instrument of melan- 
choly. Melancholy is not exactly the word either—there is in the Dove’s note 
nothing of sadness unless you yourself are sad. It is rather tender and 
solemn, the expression of a true-hearted lover whose thought is not alone of 
passion, but of exalted privilege and well-weighed responsibility—youth that 
dares all, but not recklessly. 
The familiar, long-drawn “mourning” notes are uttered only by the male, 
and for all their tenderness they have a penetrating quality, which makes 
them one of the most insistent elements in the chorus of springtime. Besides 
these the birds make no other sound, unless we count a musical wing-note 
which is made when suddenly taking flight, and which is so distinct that one 
can never be quite satisfied that it is not a vocal outcry. The same note, 
moderated, is heard in mid-flight, and also with renewed force when the birds 
are checking their flight or alighting; and it is so exactly timed with the wing 
movement that we must conclude its external origin. 
