THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 51 



and again from the middle of July to the middle of Sep- 

 tember. Their food consists of worms, crickets, beetles, 

 snails and small shell-fish. 



nab Chick. See Pied-billed Grebe. 

 Diedapper. See Pied-billed Grebe. 

 Diver, Crreat JYwthern. See Loon. 



Dove. Length, twelve inches; extent, nineteen inches; 

 bill, half an inch. The general appearance of the bird is a 

 bluish fawn color. Above it is an olive brown, varying 

 to a bluish gray, with a few black spots on the back and 

 inner wing feathers; the sides of the neck have metallic 

 tints; the belly is of a vinaceous cinnamon, changing to 

 a buff and lead color on the sides; the bill is black and 

 the feet red. The tail feathers are gray with large ter- 

 minal spots of white or gray, light gray preceded by a 

 black band, central pair, uniform brown. In the female 

 the colors are somewhat duller. 



The nest is frequently nothing but a deserted robin's 

 nest, flattened out and a few sticks placed upon it; when 

 the bird builds its own nest, generally in the lower 

 branches of a tree or in a garden, it is a rudely constructed 

 affair composed of small twigs. Mating begins in April. 

 The eggs are two in number, of a white color, one inch by 

 four-fifths of an inch in size. 



The bird breeds over the whole of North America as far 

 north as Canada. It arrives in New Jersey in April from 

 the southern part of the United States and returns in 

 November, although a few winter in the southern part of 

 the state. 



Their cry is a soft, plaintive Coo-o-o, ah-coo-o-o coo-o 

 coo-o-o. 



The food of this bird consists of grain and corn, but the 

 latter is very seldom taken from the ear; it very rarely 

 feeds on insects. 



