Vol 'l9n Vm ] Craig, Emotion in the Mourning Dove. 407 



either bird is much more free to move about and make a noise; 

 of course they are much more quiet during incubation than in 

 the days of courting; but each evening throughout the incubation 

 period, the male on his roost, which is always some distance from 

 the nest, serenades his sitting mate with the song or the nest-call, 

 repeating one or other of these every few minutes as the day wanes. 

 Zenaidura is a vesper bird ; as compared with other doves, he sings 

 less in the morning and relatively more in the evening. 



Comparative quiet thus reigns during the whole time of incubat- 

 ing and brooding. But when the young are more or less fledged, 

 the parents begin once again to become wooers. The song and 

 the nest-call are redoubled, and the male begins once again to 

 charge the female and to pluck his wing quills from the inner side. 

 Thus is inaugurated another brood cycle which passes through the 

 regular round of laying, incubating, brooding and rearing the young. 

 These brood cycles continue to follow one another until the latter 

 part of the summer, when the molt approaches; then as the birds 

 finish the task of rearing the last brood they do not warm up to the 

 work of starting another. The merry play of singing, nest-calling, 

 and charging does not reappear until the following spring. It is 

 said that in winter, even the vocal organs of the Mourning Dove 

 dwindle to an insignificant state. 



References. 



Craig, Wallace. 1908. The voices of Pigeons regarded as a means of 

 social control. Am. Jour. Sociol., Vol. XIV, pp. 86-100. 



Craig, Wallace. 1909. The expressions of emotion in the Pigeons. 

 I. The Blond Ring-Dove (Turtur risorius). Jour. Comp. Neur. 

 and Psych., Vol. XIX, pp. 29-80, one pi., 1909. 



Gates, Wm. H. 1909. A few notes on the habits, life history and eco- 

 nomic value of Doves. Bulletin No. 14, Gulf Biological Station, 

 Cameron, La., pp. 3-27. 



