86 BIRDS OF OHIO. 



occurrence during the migrations. It is likely that scatter- 

 ing records of single individuals or very small companies 

 may be made from time to time. Many localities on the 

 Western Reserve have their histories of great flights and im- 

 mense rookeries. Before they have entirely passed from the 

 memory of those who knew of them personally these places 

 should be mapped for future reference. 



119. (316.) Zenaidura macroura (Linn.). 180. 

 Mourning Dove. 



Synonyms: Zenaidura carolinensis, Columba carolinensis, C. 

 macroura. 

 Carolina Dove, Turtle Dove, Wild Dove. 

 Kirtland, Ohio Geol. Surv., 1838, 164. 



The Mourning Dove ranks well up among the familiar 

 birds, because it frequently nests in the orchard or shrub- 

 bery in towns and the suburbs of cities. It is a familiar 

 bird along country roads in summer, taking dust-baths or 

 gleaning for food. A few hardy individuals remain even 

 in the extreme northern parts of the state all winter, but many 

 pass the winter in the southern parts of the state. The bulk 

 of the migrations occur about the middle of April in Lorain 

 county. It is impossible to tell when the most go south, 

 because they are so quiet about it. Few are seen during 

 the molting period, which begins after the last brood is 

 raised, and nests with eggs are found even during the first 

 week in September. 



Observations upon the food of the doves and examina- 

 tions of their stomachs prove that while in spring and sum- 

 mer a good deal of wheat is eaten, by far the largest pro- 

 portion of the dove's food consists of the seeds of noxious 

 weeds. Undoubtedly the most of the wheat eaten is what 

 the birds find among the stubble after the crop has been har- 

 vested. I have many times flushed doves from cornfields, 

 during July and August, and found that they were eating 

 the partly ripe seeds of the grasses which are the plague of 

 the farmer's life. The Mourning Dove seldom occurs in 

 flocks of any size, and therefore any depredations upon 

 grain fields will hardly be noticed. 



