VOICE AND INSTINCT IN PIGEON HYBRIDIZATION AND PHYLOGENY. 121 



VOICE OF THE MOURNING-DOVE (ZENAIDURA CAROLINENSIS). 



The male has a low "love-grunt," which he gives when he comes up to the female, or 

 flies to her, in the breeding-season. It is a little greeting given as he struts up to or around 

 his mate. 1 



The author gives a record of the time occupied by 144 "perch-calls" (song or coo) of 

 the mourning-dove, in order to show the contrast with other species and with Zenaidura 

 hybrids. This record shows that the perch-calls were given in "strains" or series, varying 

 in length from a series of two calls lasting a fraction of a minute to a series of 34 calls 

 lasting 10 minutes. The interval of time from the beginning of one call to the beginning 

 of the next averages about 15 seconds and is never less than about 12 seconds. This rate 

 is strikingly unlike that of the Zenaidura X risoria hybrid. 



The mourning-dove loses its voice towards the end of August and never tries to coo; 

 or if it is sometimes moved to try, it gives a most ridiculous note, as if its organs of voice 

 were out of tune or as if it had forgotten how to do it. If these doves are kept in the house 

 during October they will, after molting is over, reacquire the full voice in the course of a 

 few weeks. Some males mated with ring-doves were placed in pens in my library on Oct. 1. 

 After a week or two I noticed that they began to try their voices. At first the efforts were 

 feeble and repeated only once or a few times a day. The efforts gradually increased until 

 the bird had a full and penetrating voice, and their calls were then repeated so often and 

 with so much vigor that it often became annoying. This loss and return of voice with the 

 breeding-season is of general occurrence among wild migratory birds that breed only in the 

 summer season; for example, in the cuckoo. 2 (R 34.). 



VOICE OF ZENAIDA. 



A Z. vinaceo-rufa, which had recently lost his mate, gave his "perch-song," or "distance 

 call." This call consists of four coos, as does also the "driving-call" given in 3^ seconds. 

 I have never heard it repeated in long strains, as happens in some other pigeons. The 

 syllables (coos) are of nearly equal length, pitch, volume, quality, etc. The call is very low, 

 as compared with that of the mourning-dove, and is delivered so quietly that it frequently 

 escapes attention, even at a distance of only a few yards. The male's "nest-call" is a low, 

 single, abrupt, hoarse muffled note a cuh cut short and barely audible. 



In calling a female to the nest a male lowered his head, raised his tail and rump feathers, 

 spread the tail somewhat with each call, and gently vibrated one or both wings, according 

 to occasion. He was very slow in his movements and took great care not to approach the 

 female, as if he wished to avoid giving her the least alarm. He would jump into the nest-box 

 when she alighted on it and quietly try to win her to his side. His eyes then beamed with 

 delight ; he would very quietly change his position and move his wings to invite her closer. 

 If she hesitated he would quietly walk away, fly to the perch, and upon alighting would 

 strike the perch or nest-box two or three times quickly with his feet. This striking, done 

 mostly when the female is at a distance on the floor, seems to be a quiet way of attracting 

 attention. The same is done by the mourning-dove. 



The call to the young to be fed (call to feed, or "feed-call," as it may be named) is, 

 so far as I can see, exactly the same as the perch-song. The voice of Zenaida is, then, a 

 simpler form than that of Zenaidura; but it is easy to see that the mourning-dove has a 



1 This is evidently the homologue of the "kah" used as a greeting by Turtur and Streptopelia. In Zenaidura it is 

 so greatly reduced that I never heard it myself. W. C.) 



1 It is much to be regretted that the circumstances of the preparation of this volume have precluded references 

 to Prof. F. H. Herrick's studies on instinct and behavior in birds; included in those studies is a very able presentation 

 of the behavior of the cuckoo. (O. R.) 



