prueser] 



THE MOURNING DOVES 



261 



would drop to the ground giving vent to a low muttered alarm, then 

 scuttling away to a safe distance from the nest, she would fly into 

 a tree, and return again to the nest. 



Fig. I. A Mourning Dove on Her Nest 



In two weeks the eggs were hatched. The young birds grew 

 fast. In two weeks more they left the nest, the last one leaving on 

 the fourteenth day. Young robins and mocking birds usually 

 leave the nest on the eleventh day but the young turtle doves 

 require a little longer time to develop strength for flight. 



Soon after the last little dove left the nest, the mother bird began 

 laying eggs for the second brood. Seldom does the turtle dove lay 



