BIRDS OF KANSAS 123 



manner. His mournful cooing love note, so pleasing to the 

 female, wafts to my ears one of the saddest sounds in na- 

 ture. The birds while mated are true and devoted to each 

 other. At the close of the breeding season they collect to- 

 gether in small flocks, usually family groups. 



Their nests are placed on the forks of low, horizontal 

 branches of trees, on grape vines, and upon the ground; 

 when built off the ground, a loose slight platform, con- 

 structed of twigs, a few stems of grass, and leaves. Eggs 

 two, 1.12x.85; white; in form, elliptical to oval. 



XL. PASSENGER PIGEON. 



Ectopistes migratorius (LiNN.). 



Irregular summer resident; rare; a few to my knowl- 

 edge breed occasionally in the Neosho valley. Arrive early 

 in March; begin laying by the middle of April. 



HABITAT. Eastern North America, from Hudson's 

 Bay southward, and west to the Great Plains; casually 

 westward to Nevada and Washington ; Cuba. 



Iris red; bill and claws black; legs and feet lake red. 



This species commonly called the Wild Pigeon so, 

 abundant formerly, is fast disappearing, though still to 

 be found in numbers within the Indian Territory and 

 portions of the southern States. They are irregular wan- 

 derers, the gypsies among birds ; their natural home, how- 

 ever, is within the wooded lands, and they are therefore 

 seldom met with upon the broad prairies. 



The following interesting description of these birds is 

 from " North American Land Birds," Vol. Ill, p. 370 : 



" The Wild Pigeon appears to be almost entirely in- 

 fluenced in its migrations by the abundance of its food, 



