394 GAME BIRDS, WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. 



only remaining wild species and the Passenger Pigeon (now 

 probably extinct), will be seen by comparing their descriptions, 

 and the figures on Plate XIX, facing page 460. 



MOURNING DOVE (Zenaidura macroura carolinensis) . 

 Common or local names : Turtle Dove; Wild Dove; "Wild Pigeon." 



Length.- — 11 to nearly 13 inches. 



Adult Male. ■ — • Above mainly light grayish brown, shaded with olive and 

 turning to bluish on wings and tail, which show blue when spread; 

 forehead, sides of head and neck pale pinkish brown; sides of neck also 

 iridescent with reddish, golden and greenish reflections; hind head and 

 neck bluish; a black spot below ear and a few black spots on shoulder 

 and wing; tail, particularly middle feathers, elongated and rather 

 pointed, all except middle tail feathers bluish with a black subterminal 

 bar and a white tip; chin pale yellowish or whitish; breast pale reddish 

 brown, sometimes purplish, lightening to yellowish or whitish on belly 

 and under tail coverts; legs and feet coral red seamed with white. 



Adult Female. — Similar, but smaller, duller and tail shorter. 



Young. — Similar to female, but tail shorter; feathers light-edged. 



Field Marks. — Much smaller than the Passenger Pigeon, but generally 

 mistaken for it; may be distinguished by the lighter and more brownish 

 tone of its plumage. The Passenger Pigeon is darker and more blue, 

 and the male has a redder breast; the black spot on the side of neck is 

 distinctive of the Mourning Dove and lacking in the Passenger Pigeon. 

 The Mourning Dove makes a whistling noise as it rises, which the 

 Pigeon never made. 



Nest. — A frail platform of twigs or straws, usually at a moderate height, 

 in a tree, rarely on rocks, stumps or the ground. 



Eggs. — Two, rarely three or four, white, usually about 1.08 by .80. 



Season. — March to December; may winter sometimes in New York. 



Range. — North America. Breeds chiefly in Sonoran and Lower Transition 

 zones from British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and 

 southern Nova Scotia south throughout the United States and Mexico, 

 and locally in Lower California and Guatemala; winters from southern 

 Oregon, southern Colorado, the Ohio valley and North Carolina to 

 Panama; casual in winter in middle States. 



History. 



The familiar pensive moan of the Mourning Dove has in 

 it a quality of sadness that is almost "akin to pain," and yet 

 it is a soothing and attractive call, for it is the love note of 

 the male cooing to his mate. Happily it may be heard still in 



