NORTH AMERICAN BIRDH. 



187 



as many as fifty and a hundred nests have been observed in a single tree. The nest 

 is a mere platform of sticks, carelessly thrown together. The eggs are usually one, 

 never more than two in number, pure white, and broadly elliptical in shape; average 

 size, 1.50x1.03. A nest found in Oak Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 21st, 1895, 

 is the latest record of which I am aware. The nest contained one egg and the 

 female bird was taken. The late Maj. Bendire gives the average measurements of 

 twenty specimens in the U. S. National Museum as 1.48x1.04. 



316. MOURNING DOVE. Zenaiduru tnairoura (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— Whole of 

 temperate North America from Southern Maine, Canada and Oregon, south to 

 Panama and the West Indies. 



The Carolina Dove, also called Turtle Dove, is one of our best known and fa- 

 miliar birds. Its gentle disposition, its sweet but mournful cooing, have made it 

 the typical sad-toned singer in poetry and song. The Turtle Dove is distributed 

 throughout temperate North America; it is to be met with everywhere, both in 

 woodland and in open places. It is particularly fond of feeding in country roadways. 

 During the breeding season they are found in pairs, but at other times are highly 



316. Mourning Dove A»D Nest. (Cheney del.) 



gregarious, though flocks of them never attain the size of those of the Wild Pigeon. 

 The. nest is placed on the horizontal branches of trees, on stumps, on the top rail of 

 old snake fences, on rocks, in bushes, and in treeless regions the nest is placed on the 

 ground. It varies in construction with its location. When found in small branches 

 of trees it is made of a few sticks, somewhat after the style of Ihp Cuckoo's nest, 

 but if on a large limb or stump, it is often but a rim of twigs suflicient to retain the 



