THE OOLbGlSt 



145 



THE MOURNING DOVE 



P"'rom the budding trees of early- 

 spring comes the first familiar voice 

 of the Mourning Dove. It is among 

 the first birds to mate and nest build 

 and is a great favorite with those who 

 are acquainted with its gentle and con- 

 fiding habits. 



In Nelson County, Kentucky, the 

 Dove is a permanent resident. At 

 times in the winter it is scarce, and 

 often it cannot be found for several 

 weeks. The wintering birds usually 

 resort to the corn stubble fields where 

 an abundant supply of scattered corn 

 and weed seeds are to be found. In 

 severe winters they are noticed about 

 barn lots and hog-feeding places. 

 They are frequently found frozen to 

 death in the severe cold weather like 

 as we had in the winter of 1917 and 

 1918. 



. As spring comes on the Doves are 

 usually found ly in pairs or singly. 

 Nearly all of the nests I have found 

 were in red cedar trees usually about 

 six to ten feet from the ground. Oc- 

 casionally nests are found in orchards 

 trees but they seem to prefer the 

 scattered cedars at the edge of Wood- 

 land as nesting sites. Evidently eggs 

 are often laid in March. I have been 

 told of eggs found in that month but 

 have as yet found none, but I feel 

 sure that they occasionally lay in that 

 month. On April 14th I flushed a Dove 

 from a nest containing the usual two 

 young birds, about five to six days old. 

 Evidently these eggs were laid in 

 March. Butler in "Birds of India," 

 states, eggs are often found in early 

 April, but gives no March record. He 

 also states that they occasionally nest 

 on the ground in that state. I have 

 never known of a' nest of that kind to 

 be found here. 



The Dove is not only an early 

 breeder but also nests well into the 

 summer. On August 12th, 1916, I 

 found a nest containing two eggs. One 



of the eggs hatched between the 19th 

 and 23rd of the month. The young 

 bird left the nest on the 3rd. It flew 

 straight to the top of a sycamore tree 

 at a distance of about twenty yards. 

 The addled egg remained in the nest 

 for several weeks after the young bird 

 flew. Wliy the youngster did not 

 shove it out is a mystery, for as all 

 who have seen the Dove nest know 

 that is a mere flat form of twigs. 



The following day a single egg of 

 this species was found in the old nest, 

 but it disappeared about a week later. 

 As is a well known fact often feigns 

 lameness, or a broken wing as it leaves 

 the nest. I remember finding a nest 

 in 1916 that was placed in a cedar 

 tree in a fence corner. The nest was 

 on a horizontal limb and almost two 

 feet above the top of the fence. As I 

 approached the nest the Dove flew off 

 in a downward course, striking the 

 wire fence with a bang, fluttered to 

 the ground, flopping through the 

 bushes and finally disappeared. A 

 minute later it was seen flopping and 

 fluttering near the top of the tall tree 

 some twenty yards away. Now I 

 really believe it was the purpose of 

 the Dove to strike the fence as it left 

 the nest. Perhaps by accident it had 

 learned that by striking the wires of 

 the fence it made a considerable noise, 

 and had used this means of attracting 

 my attention to its pretended lame- 

 ness. Of course this is only a theory 

 of mine and it may be entirely wrong, 

 but I will always believe that the Dove 

 intended colliding with the fence. 



When the wheat ripens the Doves 

 are often noticed about the flelds and 

 eat grain, but the damage is small. 

 Some farmers claim that they often 

 pull up corn as it sprouts. They are 

 often seen feeding or taking a sun 

 bath along the dusty roads in summer. 



The open season on Doves in Ken- 

 tucky extends from September 1st to 

 October 15th, a period of six weeks, 



