MOURNING DOVE. 



carolina dove. turtle dove. 

 Zenaidura macroura. 



Char. Male: above, grayish blue, the back washed with brownish 

 olive ; sides of head and neck and breast purplish red ; belly huffish ; 

 sides of neck with metallic reflections; a black spot on the cheeks; tail 

 with bar of black, outer feathers broadly tipped with white. Female; 

 similar, but duller; breast brownish. Length about 12 inches. 



Nest. In a tree or bush or on fence rail or rock, — a mere platform 

 rudely made of twigs. 



Eggs. 2-4 (usually 2); white; 1.15 X 0.85. 



This almost familiar Pigeon in the course of the spring 

 leisurely migrates through the interior as far as to Canada, 

 though in the Eastern States it is rarely met with to the 

 north of Connecticut. Many appear sedentary in the warmer 

 States, where they breed as far south as Louisiana. They are 

 also said to inhabit the Antilles, and we saw them not uncom- 

 mon in the Territory of Oregon. In the warmer parts of the 

 Union they commence laying early in April, and in South 

 Carolina I heard their plaintive coo on the 29th of January; 

 but at the extremity of their range they scarcely begin to 

 breed before the middle of May. They lay, as usual, two eggs, 

 ot a pure white, and make their nest in the horizontal branches 

 of a tree. It is formed of a mere layer of twigs so loosely and 

 slovenly put together as to appear scarcely sufficient to pre- 

 vent the young from falling out. 



