1913 BIRDS OF THE FRESNO DISTRICT 35 



Western Mourning Dove. Zenaidura macroura marginella (Woodhouse). 



What wonderful opportunities are sometimes overlooked, and how often we 

 fail to appreciate the efforts of our best friends until it is all but too late ! 



Had the farmers and fruit growers of central California realized the value 

 of the dove as a destroyer of weed seeds it is probable that a law would have 

 been passed years ago removing it forever from the list of California game birds. 

 ^^'hat a pity that some of those who should have been loudest in urging protec- 

 tion for the doves have remained silent, allowing the slaughter of these birds to 

 go on year after year during July and August, just at the height of the nesting 

 season. Many a late-summer nest has the author looked into, and from the brok- 

 en or dried up egg shells, and often from the shriveled remains of two tiny, 

 downy creatures, read a pitiful tale of cruelty, starvation, and death ; and all to 

 satisfy the lust for killing by that class of hunters who must have something at 

 ^vhich to shoot. 



It has remained for our Fish and Game Commission, backed by true sports- 

 men and other interested parties to remedy this evil by dividing the State into 

 districts with seasons arranged to meet local conditions. I have been informed 

 that the departure of doves from the northern portion of the state occurs annual- 

 ly in August ; so that the northern sportsmen claimed that unless allowed to shoot 

 during that month they would be denied the privilege of dove-shooting altogether. 

 Thus we see the fallacy of a uniform law for a whole state of the size, and with 

 the diversified conditions, of California. 



Under the present arrangement the birds are protected in this, the fourth 

 district, until September first, and shooting is limited to that month and the fol- 

 lowing one. Personally the writer is convinced that October first would be a 

 still better date for the opening of the season, from the birds' standpoint at least ; 

 but such a victory has been gained in extending protection through July and 

 August that we must be willing to concede a few points. 



As a destroyer of noxious weed seeds the dove takes first rank, and during 

 the summer and fall months these birds are to be looked for, when not engaged 

 with household cares, in clumps of sun-flowers growing in fence corners and 

 along ditches, in the patches of mullein that often carpet summer- fallow fields in 

 this region, and wherever seed bearing weeds are allowed to grow on waste 

 ground. Doubtless the shade and protection afforded in such places are added 

 attractions ; but the fact remains that several birds examined had crops distende>i 

 to their utmost capacity with small seeds, showing that they had not been idle. 



The number of seeds eaten by even a single dove in one year's time must be 

 almost incredible, and, leaving out the question of sentiment altogether, the 

 dove's usefulness alone is sufficient reason for protecting it at all times. 



That the species has decreased somewhat during the past ten years can hard- 

 ly be denied, yet at preent it is in no danger of extermination, and with the laws 

 now in force may be expected to increase in numbers from year to year. 



The Mourning Dove is an abundant resident over the floor of the valley, 

 finding conditions suited to its requirements not only on the large grain ranches 

 but everywhere in the more highly cultivated fruit districts as well. During the 

 nesting season the birds are scattered over the country in pairs, but often nest so 

 luimerously in the willows along certain canals as to appear to be nesting in col- 



