BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



favor, he attends strictly to his own affairs and 

 troubles no one. Moreover, his loud note, like 

 a very big rattle, is a welcome sound when in 

 early spring it comes over the fields while the 

 winds are still blowing off the ice. 



PIGEONS 



To another order belong the Pigeons. The 

 Mourning Dove is all we have now. Years 

 ago the beautiful Passenger Pigeon came and 

 went in great flocks. That day is passed. The 

 Passenger Pigeon is no more, and very rare is 

 his shy cousin the Mourning Dove. It may be 

 that Mourning Doves are decreasing in num- 

 bers because they cannot find the proper nest- 

 ing places, although they have never been very 

 particular where they lay their two white eggs. 

 Nests have been found in old grape vines, on 

 old stumps, on the top rails of old fences, or 

 in low trees. So exposed have these locations 

 been that their eggs have been known to have 

 been blown off by the wind or the swaying of 

 the branches, and for the same reason their 

 babies sometimes come to grief. Such careless 

 homemakers and parents of such small families 

 are not likely to increase their numbers rapidly, 

 [105] 



