106 General Notes. [j^ 



season and in the season of 1917, while in the spring of 1916, sixteen Kill- 

 deers were on his place, but a pair of bird dogs from a nearby house were 

 continually hunting them so that only two pairs remained to nest. 



This is the first time I ever knew of Killdeers nesting in West Haven. — 

 Nelson E. Wilmot, West Haven, Co/in. 



Mourning Doves Sharing a Robin Roost. — On the evening of 

 September 10, 1918, shortly after sunset in a country place outside of St. 

 Louis, I saw fourteen Mourning Doves (Zenaidura macroura carolinensis) 

 flying low through the gathering dusk. Others followed along the same 

 course in small groups or singly, so that I was convinced that there was a 

 general movement toward a roosting place. The next evening I posted 

 myself near the point where the birds had been observed the night before, 

 and discovered that several hundred Doves were going for the night to a 

 piece of low ground only a few rods away. At the same time many Robins 

 were also noted dropping into the same tangle in the manner characteristic 

 of this species when flying to a " roost." For several evenings a count was 

 made of both species as they came to the roost. On September 14, three 

 observers at different points counted five hundred and twenty-five Robins 

 and four hundred and ninety-seven Doves. On September 28 only fifty 

 Doves were noted, and on < >ctober 10, none. 



The thicket in which both species roosted covered several acres and was 

 made up of wild plum, wild crab, small oaks and elms, many of which were 

 draped with wild grape vines. Through a part of the thicket ran a piece 

 of low ground in which grew taller elms, willows and buttonwood. The 

 thicket was surrounded on all sides by open fields. 



The Doves came chiefly to the northwest corner of the thicket, the Robins 

 chiefly to the north and east sides, but a few individuals of each species 

 came along the route used chiefly by the other. A possible explanation of 

 the marked difference in routes lies in the fact that the region to the north- 

 west, from which the Doves apparently came, contained large corn and 

 wheat fields and had fewer trees, while that to the north and east, from 

 which the Robins came, included more small yards and groves of trees. 



The first Doves usually appeared later than the first Robins, and their 

 whole flight was spread over a shorter period of time. Many individuals 

 came singly, but loose flocks of as many as thirty-four were noted. They 

 never flew as high as the Robins that came in early, but no lower than the 

 Robins that came- late, when it was getting dark. Like the Robins, they 

 occasionally lit on telephone wires before going into the thicket. To the 

 northwest, about a quarter of a mile away, were two small cattle ponds; 

 here, one evening, I observed Doves stopping to drink, apparently on their 

 way to the roost. 



The Doves, unlike the Robins, were invariably silent on their way to the 

 roost and after entering it. The Robins very often gave their sibilant note 

 when flying over, and in the roost kept up a considerable interchange of 



