Plate XXIV. 



ZEN/EDURA CAROUNENSIS-Canlina Dove. 



The Turtle Dove is an exceedingly hardy bird; swift on the wing, well clothed with an abundance 

 of compact feathers, and very tenacious of life, they brave our coldest winters. At any time of the 

 year, when the weather is not too severe, nidification may occur, but the majority of nests are of course 

 constructed during the summer months. I have seen Doves sitting on fresh eggs in everv month 

 except December and January; and I have no doubt but that they build nests and lay eggs occasionally 

 during these months in mild winters. Hoav many broods a single pair rears during a year I do not 

 know, but imagine the number varies, according to circumstances, from t^vo to four. 



LOCALITY: 



Like the Kobin they build almost any place and every place. Cultivated fields and thick woods, 

 river-bottoms and springless hill-sides, country roads and village streets, are each and all common 

 localities. The usual site is a tree; but in the early and late months, when the foliage is sparse or 

 absent, the nest is often placed upon the ground in a pasture, plowed field, or prairie; or upon a stump 

 in the woods, the rail of a worm-fence, the top of a straw-stack; or in the loft of a barn or cattle 

 stable; or some such place where protection and warmth are to be secured. Thorn-trees and hedo-es 

 also furnish sites for the early nests, while apple-trees and evergreens in country and toAvn yards are 

 favorite trees in the summer. 



POSITION : 



The position of the nest when built in a tree is variable, sometimes it is placed upon a large hori- 

 zontal limb against the main trunk; this is especially the case when in a thorn-tree or elm. Sometimes 

 it rests upon two branches close to the bifurcation ivom the main limb. Sometimes it rests upon a 

 small branch, and is prevented from tipping over by slender twigs which grow out from either side. 

 Sometimes it is built upon a platform of tangled vine-stems and twigs. Its distance from the o-round 

 varies from three to thirty feet; usually it is about six or eight feet. When not placed in a tree, the 

 nest is situated upon some horizontal plane, such as is aiforded by the ground, a shelf, or a beam. 



MATERIALS : 



Dried twigs, weed-stems and roots, grape-vine tendrils, old leaves, leaf-stems from the walnut and 

 other trees, straws, and blue-grass, in various proportions, are the common materials of construction. 

 Some nests are composed entirely of roots having long slender fibres; others entirely of weed-stems and 

 twigs; and still others are made of straws and grasses alone. But usually when the nest is in a tree 

 most if not all the materials mentioned above are combined in it. When the bird selects a stump, the 

 ground, or a sti'aw-stack for the site, frequently no nest is prepared, the eggs being deposited upon the 

 stump, ground, or stravv, as the case may be. If a fence-rail or rafter is the chosen place, a nest 



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