PIGEONS AND DOVES: Family Columbidae [32.7 



white-reddish browns and other colors, possibly from crosses with other species. 

 The wild birds in Oregon are a motley lot, though there are many birds approaching 

 the original species in color and markings. Si^e: Length 14, wing 8.80. Nest: A 

 few straws, bits of grass, or other material about buildings or on the rocks. Eggs: 

 -L, white. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Southern Europe, northern Africa, and Asia Minor. Intro- 

 duced and widely reared as the Domestic Pigeon. Escaped and breeding about many 

 towns in United States. In Oregon: Has gone wild and become established as a 

 breeding bird about docks and waterfront of Portland, grain elevators and railroad 

 yards of numerous other towns, and rocky cliffs along Umatilla River. 



THE ROCK DOVE, or common domestic pigeon, has become naturalized 

 and established about numerous towns in both eastern and western Ore- 

 gon. It is particularly abundant along the Portland waterfront, where it 

 breeds on the buildings and feeds about the grain docks. It has been 

 established and breeds about Pilot Rock and in the cliffs along the 

 Umatilla River below Pendleton, and these are the only Oregon colonies 

 we have noted that have reverted to ancestral habits. Incidentally, the 

 Umatilla River colony is greatly appreciated by a pair of Prairie Falcons 

 that have lived for years on a nearby cliff. Many of the doves have 

 reverted to the ancient slate-blue and white plumage of their ancestors, 

 but there are still many mixed colored individuals among these natural- 

 ized birds. 



Western Mourning Dove: 



Zenaidura macroura marginella (Woodhouse) 



DESCRIPTION. "Tail of fourteen feathers, graduated, more than two thirds as long 

 as wing; feathers more or less narrowed at tips; wings pointed; tarsus naked, side 

 toes of unequal length, the outer shortest; space around eye bare. Adult male: tail 

 bordered with white and with subterminal black spots; back and wings with a few 

 roundish black spots; rest of upper parts brown; top of head washed with bluish 

 gray, sides of head with blue-black spot and pink iridescence; under parts brownish, 

 tinged with pink on breast. Adult female: similar but paler throughout, with little 

 if any bluish gray on head, black ear spot smaller, and metallic gloss less distinct. 

 Young: duller than female, without metallic gloss or distinct ear spot; feathers of 

 upper parts and breast with grayish tips. Length: 11-13, wing 5.70-6.10, tail 5.70- 

 6.50, bill .50-. 5 5." (Bailey) Nest: A flimsy platform of twigs, usually on a low 

 horizontal limb but sometimes on the ground (Plate 56, B). Eggs: 2., pure white. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from Minnesota and Oklahoma west to Pacific Coast 

 and north to Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. South through 

 Mexico. In Oregon: Common summer resident and breeder, most abundant in eastern 

 Oregon but widely distributed in western Oregon, even to coast, where it is uncom- 

 mon. Casual winter resident in scattered localities east of Coast Ranges. 



THE WESTERN MOURNING DOVE (Plate 56, B) is not mentioned either in 

 the reports of the Lewis and Clark Expedition or in Douglas' Journals for 

 this territory, but beginning with Townsend (1839) it has been included 

 in every local list published in the State and in numerous manuscript 



