WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 337 



the prevailing tints on shoulders and back suggesting 

 the familiar term, " dove-color." 



The doves are migratory in the Northern States and 

 partly so in the Middle States. They are often seen in 

 country roads procuring gravel and dusting them- 

 selves. The doves feed on seeds, grain, the smaller 

 acorns, and have been accused of consuming peas in a 

 garden. They use large quantities of gravel, and a 

 knowledge of this need suggests to the sportsman a 

 good place for his blind. 



In the late summer and fall the doves resort to the 

 stubble and corn-fields in the North and to the hemp- 

 fields in the South, and soon become very fat and in 

 excellent condition for the table. They are usually 

 seen in pairs early in the summer and should on no 

 account be shot until September, when they are found 

 in small flocks. These combine together into larger 

 flocks when they move southward. 



Dr. Coues found this bird abundant in Arizona in 

 summer. A friend and shooting companion in Col- 

 orado informed me that they often had fine sport with 

 the doves in the early autumn, but we were after 

 larger game and I did not shoot them there. They 

 are shot by Southern sportsmen as they fly in the 

 morning and at evening, and great numbers are often 

 taken by a single gun. I have had considerable sport 

 when they were abundant and comparatively tame, 

 walking them up in the stubble and corn-fields, and 

 have often seen the dogs point them. 



Doves are usually, however, shot from ambush. In 

 the morning and evening they seek the margins of 

 streams and ponds to drink, preferring those where 



