PIGEONS, DOVES 



(316) Zenaidura macroura 



Carolinensis (Linn.) (Gr., Iohr tail). 



MOURNING DOVE ; CARO- 

 LINA DOVE ; TURTLE DOVE, 

 Tail long and graduated. Always a 

 black spot under the ear coverts and 

 often one back of the eye. Ad. (f — 

 Plumage as figured, brownish above 

 and vinaceous orpinkish-brown below. 

 The 9 is similar but plain brownish- 

 gray below. Immature birds have 

 the back more or less edged with 

 whitish. L., under 13.00; W., 5.75; 

 T., 5.75. Nest — A frail structure of 

 twigs in trees, bushes or on the ground; 

 the two eggs are pure white, i . i s x .80. 



Range — Breeds from southern 

 Canada south throughout the U. S. 



(317) Zenaida zenaida (Bonap.) 

 ZENAIDA DOVE. A West In- 

 dian species, casual in summer on 

 the Florida Keys. 



We, a hundred years later, cannot discover a single nesting 

 place, although thousands of dollars have been offered as 

 rewards for such discovery. 



The passing of the Wild Pigeon from our fauna is parallel 

 with the exit of the buffalo. Apparently limitless in numbers, 

 they were slaughtered without restraint. Guns were not 

 effective enough; where they might get fifty or more at a 

 single shot from a gun, they could catch a thousand with a 

 single throw of the net. The killings took place throughout 

 eastern United States. Men stood on the bluffs at the edge 

 of the Great Lakes armed with poles or clubs, and struck 

 down migrating birds, weary with the flight across the water, 

 until their arms ached from the e.xertion. Birds were 

 barreled and sold in Boston and New York markets; many 

 of them were shipped abroad. The last great nesting was 

 at Petosky, Mich., in 1878. Nearly every tree in a tract 

 forty miles long and three to ten miles wide, contained one 

 or more nests. Suffice it to say that this nesting was 

 entirely wiped out. 



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