26 BEHAVIOR OF PIGEONS. 



yet mature and is a little broken, but the call is delivered in the correct manner. At that 

 time this young bird was only 9 weeks and 1 day old. 



Another instance of the giving of the nest-call by a very immature bird was as fol- 

 lows: A young passenger-pigeon, only 59 days old, was standing on the perch in his pen 

 in my library. I let a pair of ring-doves free in the room. These very tame doves flew 

 about in delight. When they alighted in front of the pen containing the young passenger 

 the latter promptly raised his tail and bowed his head, giving the call-note of the parent 

 species perfectly. This occurred 5 weeks and 3 days after it had been taken from its 

 parents, and since its parents had been kept in the back yard the young passenger cer- 

 tainly could not have made the note in imitation. When he was about 2 weeks old he 

 must have heard his parents thus call in preparing for a second nest, but this was the last 

 time the old birds gave the call, for they molted soon afterward and made no more calls 

 for nesting. The young passenger repeated this call again on the following day. (R 28, 

 R33, R29, SS4, Sh 8/13.) 



