172 NOTES ON THE 
tricts which I have heard from. They have principally left the 
country by the first of November, although straggling indi- 
viduals remain as long as the abundance of mast is uncovered 
by snow. 
Wilson’s estimate of the quantity of food they consume, is 
one of the most wonderful revelations in the literature of orni- 
thology. I think it highly improbable that large numbers will 
ever give material cause for anxiety to the agricultural interests 
of Minnesota, yet I cannot be assured,for the migrations of the 
species are exceedingly capricious. 
SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 
Tail of twelve feathers; upper parts generally, including 
sides of body, head, neck and chin blue; beneath purple 
brownish red, fading behind with a violet tint; anal region and 
under tail coverts bluish white; scapulars, inner tertials and mid- 
dle of back, with an olive-brown tinge; wing coverts, scapulars 
and inner tertials, with large oval spots of blue-black on the 
outer webs, mostly concealed except on the latter; primaries 
blackish, with a border of pale-bluish, tinged internally with 
red; middle tail feathers brown; the rest pale-blue on the outer 
web, white internally, each with a patch of reddish-brown at 
the base of the inner web, followed by another of black, sides 
and back of neck, richly glossed with metalic golden-violet; 
tibia bluish-violet; bill black; feet yellow. 
Length, 17; wing, 8.50; tail, 8.40. 
Habitat, Eastern North America. 
NoteE—The above was written many years ago since which it 
has been further verified as correct in the older sections of 
agricultural improvements, but restricted portions of several 
northern countries have been somewhat annoyed by consider: 
able flocks both in spring and autumn in occasional years. I 
have neither seen nor learned of any characteristic roosts. 
ZENAIDURA MACROURA (L.). (316.) 
MOURNING DOVE. 
For its species, the Mourning Dove may be said to be fairly 
comon throughout the brush-lands, and subcommon over the 
dry prairies. 
Its presence here from the 15th to the 20 of April, is soon 
recognized by its sad cooing notes, heard from the back past- 
ure, or along the wayside, through brushy sections in which 
are small patches of grass They do not usually arrive here 
in large parties, but often much as they remain through the 
summer, in pairs. 
