The Oologist. 



vol. XI. NO. 7. 



ALBION, N. Y., JULY, 1894. 



Whole No. 105 



Dove Life in Arizona. 



The winter and spring of 1893 I spent 

 In Phoenix, Arizona, and as I was my- 

 self greatly interested in the birds to be 

 tfound there, and knowing that at least 

 •one species does not come under the 

 'notice of many of the readers of the 

 Oologist, I have thought a few of my 

 observations might be of interest. 



It must be understood, that although 

 ■originally the country about Phoenix 

 was a desert without vegetation, except 

 the usual cacti and stunted desert trees, 

 the application of the irrigation system 

 'has reclaimed several hundred thousand 

 acres of fine land, which are now green 

 with grain and alfalfa, and support 

 numberless herds of fine cattle. 



Along the ditches which cross and re- 

 ■cross the country, carrying the life 

 sustaining irrigation, have been plant- 

 ed rows of cottonwood and willow 

 trees, now of considerable size, and 

 these furnish resting places and nest- 

 ing places for many birds which would 

 uot otherwise be found in that region. 



Of the Doves, probably the first in 

 point of numbers is the well known 

 Mourning Dove; indeed they actually 

 swarm everywhere from the city streets 

 to the outskirts of the irrigated lands, 

 building their nests in all kinds of 

 places, often on the ground. In a 

 small patch of mesquite trees, which a 

 friend and I were exploring one day in 

 May for other nests, they were so plen- 

 tiful that we flushed them from their 

 nests at nearly every step, not a little 

 to our annoyance as the noise they made, 

 together with the suddenness of their 

 movements was vei'y distracting to our 

 .attention, and prevented our hearing 

 the movements of other birds. As the 

 bird is so well known I will only add 

 that the first eggs were seen on March 



5th and well grown young on the 17th. 



We now come to the Inca Dove, a 

 Dove so diminutive and familiar and 

 vith such friendly and trusting ways, 

 that one feels at once a kindly interest 

 in it. It is essentially a bird of the gar- 

 den and cultivated districts and is most 

 often seen in the shade trees bordering 

 the streets and walking about in the 

 grass of lawns or in gardens, busily 

 picking up its food, and avowing a 

 person [to pass within a few feet with- 

 out showing the least alarm. In color 

 it is as dainty and as pleasing as in its 

 habits. The general tint is nearly that 

 of the Mourning Dove, but each feather 

 being edged with a faint blackish line 

 of crescentic shape, gives it a peculiar 

 scaled appearance, hence the name of 

 Scaled Dove by which it is sometimes 

 known. But its crowning beauty lies 

 in the color of the lining of the wings 

 and inner edges of the quills, which are 

 of a rich mahogany, showing every 

 time the bird takes flight. The tail is 

 long in proportion to the bird's length 

 and the outer feathers are much mark- 

 ed with white. The entire length is 

 about 8.00. 



As the season for nesting approaches 

 the males get very pugnacious and 

 many are the combats they wage. 

 They also coo almost incessantly a note 

 of two syllables with a decided empha- 

 sis on each. It is rather loud and 

 hoarse, with a slightly querulous tone 

 observable. It is sometimes so unceas- 

 ing as to become quite disagreeable, 

 especially when a great nurriber are to- 

 gether 



I will describe a fight of which I was 

 an interested spectator and which was 

 uncommonly hot and long contested. 

 These two particular birds met in one 

 of their foraging expeditions, on the 

 edge of an irrigating ditch which, how- 



