240 



ORDERS OF BIRDS— PIGEONS AND DOVES 



ally wrong (which it is!) to kill wild creatures 

 without reason, mercy and common-sense? 



The Mourning-Dove received its " given " name 

 from the mournful sound of its call-notes. Its 

 sad-voiced "Coo, coo, coo," suggests moaning, 

 and, next to the awful, storm-beaten wail of the 

 screech-owl, it is, under certain conditions, 

 the most doleful sound uttered by an American 

 bird. I knew one sensitive woman who was 

 so affected by the daily "mourning" of a neigh- 

 boring Dove that she begged a sportsman to 

 frighten it away. 



Another peculiar fact about this bird is the 

 strange musical note that is sounded by the 

 vibration of its wings. As the bird springs from 

 the ground in flight, or wings its way overhead, 

 the pulsations of its wings give forth a ringing, 

 metallic sound, like the twanging of a tight wire. 



This Dove loves country roads, more than any 

 other bird, and to those who love beautiful 

 things, its exquisitely moulded form and im- 

 maculate plumage is always a pleasing touch of 

 Nature. One might as well try to describe in 

 words the colors in a fire opal as those of this 

 bird. There is pink iridescence, and brownish, 

 and grayish, and blackish, and other shades too 

 numerous to mention, but the combination baf- 

 fles description. 



This Dove breeds throughout the United 

 States from the international boundary to the 

 Gulf, and migrates as far south as Panama. In 

 California it is now counted as a "game-bird," 

 and killed by sportsmen, and in the South also 

 it is killed by the negroes for food. A great 

 "game-bird" this, truly! A genuine sportsman 

 must be very hard pressed for gun victims when 

 he can seriously call this tamest of all birds 

 "game." And can any farmer in his senses 

 afford the expense of having Doves shot on his 

 farm, or in his neighborhood? Let us see. 



When the Biological Survey of the Depart- 



ment of Agriculture took up the case of the 

 Mourning-Dove, and examined the stomachs of 

 237 specimens, the summary of results proved 

 that as a weed-destroyer this bird is one of the 

 most valuable in North America. Weed-seeds 

 constitute 04 per cent of its food, all the year 

 round, with little monthly variations. In order to 

 arrive at an exact determination, the seeds in 

 three stomachs were carefully identified and 

 counted. One contained the following: 



Orange hawkweed (Hieracium au- 



rantiacum) 4,820 seeds. 



Slender paspalum {Paspalum seta- 



ceurn) 2,600 " 



Hoary vervain (Verbena stricta) .. . 950 " 



Panicum 620 " 



Carolina crancsbill (Geranium caro- 



linianum) 120 " 



Yellow wood-sorrel (Oxalis stricta). 50 " 



Miscellaneous weeds 40 " 



9,200 



The second specimen of the three contained 

 6,400 seeds of the farmers' ancient and persistent 

 enemy, fox-tail (Chactocloa), while the third 

 turned out 7,500 seeds of the yellow wood-sorrel. 

 The grand total of weed-seeds for those three 

 Doves was 23,100! And this for only one day's 

 supply. Assuming that those three Doves had 

 been killed as "game" by some "sportsman (!)," 

 previous to their meal, and those seeds had pro- 

 duced 23,100 weeds, how much would it have cost 

 in labor at $1.50 per day to destroy them? 



Besides the 64 per cent of weed-seeds in the 

 237 stomachs, there was found 32 per cent of 

 grain, but of this three-fourths was waste grain, 

 gleaned in the fields after harvest. 



Whoever does aught for the protection of 

 Doves, does well ; and a word to the wise is suf- 

 ficient. 



