THE MATING PERIOD. 11 



same time. This combination of movements is often seen in male domestic doves. I 

 noticed that when the female came to his call in the box the male winked (half closing and 

 opening his eye-lids) and smiled (slightly opening his beak), expanding the lower mandi- 

 bles so that we could almost see into his mouth. The California mourning-dove male 

 performed in all these ways toward me when I answered his call. 1 (R 20, R 17, R 29, 

 E 28, Em 7.) 



STRIKING OR STAMPING. 



A male G. humeralis is mated with a blond ring-dove. This pair is kept in a pen in 

 the library. The male has just flown up from the floor to the perch beside the female. 

 As he alighted he arched his neck proudly and gave the perch several quick strokes with 

 his feet; I think both feet were used in alternation. The strokes could be heard very 

 distinctly. The mourning-dove behaves in the same way when he alights beside his mate 

 and sometimes he does this when both are on the floor. He runs up alongside his mate 

 and gives these strokes as if in a burst of joy to be with her. The crested pigeon and the 

 geopelias do this also. 



A male mourning-dove flies from his perch to the nest-box and then back again near 

 to his mate; each time, as he alights, he lifts each foot once, one after the other, and strikes 

 it against the perch so as to make quite a loud thump, or rather two thumps in quick 

 succession. It is done so quickly that it is difficult to see the movement, although the 

 sound is quite marked. The crested pigeon strikes his feet in quick succession when spread- 

 ing and cooing before his mate. I think the ground-dove of Florida does something of 

 this kind, but I have only an indistinct recollection of it. G. humeralis does the same. 

 Leucosarcia stamps once with each foot, one after the other, and holds its head down and 

 its tail raised when it threatens to attack. This is sometimes repeated two or three times, 

 the bird watching its antagonist to see if it shows signs of fear. If it does not take the 

 hint, this may be followed up by a raising of a wing as if to strike. In presenting the wing, 

 the bird moves sidewise up close to his antagonist before striking just like the crested 

 pigeon. The stamping, the lowering of the head, and the raising of the tail seem here to 

 be a modified form of the display of the crested pigeon. 



A male G. humeralis began early in the morning to parade on the perch before the 

 female; his performance settled into a repetition of jumping from one perch to the other, 

 then stamping with his feet as he straightened up, and presenting always his beak to the 

 female. 



The stamping behavior of a mourning-dove (3) was observed. Each time that this 

 male alighted on the perch he struck his feet against the perch; one foot being made to strike 

 after the other. The two strokes were quickly made and were loud enough to be heard 

 quite distinctly. At the moment of alighting he "swelled up" a little, held his tail some- 

 what expanded, and raised his head with an expression of pride in his appearance. The 

 male mourning-dove No. 11 also strikes his feet against the perch as he alights, spreads 

 his tail and raises his wings a little, so as to show them and the tail at the same time. 



The behavior of the white-faced pigeons (Leucosarcia) in mounting reminds one strongly 

 of the bronze-wing (Phaps) and of Geopelia; it is, in fact, essentially the same. The male 

 white-face usually flew to a wide shelf (12 inches) 5 or 6 feet from the floor. He then 

 struck his feet a few tunes in rapid succession against the shelf, so that one could hear 

 the thumps plainly across the yard, even at many yards distance. When the male flew 

 up and the female was already on the shelf the latter would straighten up and strike 

 her feet on the shelf; then turn her back with the tail held down, the head up, and the 

 tail spread just a little; then walk off, wheel around, and run up to him stamping her 

 feet. The male then would offer his beak, she would accept, and be fed with a few shakes, 



1 Further material on this and the following topic may be found in Chapter X. 



