32 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. [No. 7. 



Zenaidura macroura. Mourning Dove. 



After the spring migration set in, the mourning dove was a common 

 species all through the desert region wherever water occurred. There 

 was no bird that indicated the close proximity of water with more cer- 

 tainty than the dove, and wherever it was found congregated in any 

 numbers water was confidently looked for. The three following records 

 are the only ones which indicate its presence in the region during the 

 winter: Two were seen drinking from a stream at San Bernardino j 

 Calif., December 28, 1890 ; one was seen near the roadside at LonePine 

 in the same month, and a single individual was found at Furnace Creek 

 in Death Valley, the latter part of January. Migrants were first ob- 

 served at the last-mentioned place April 9-12, and at Hot Springs, in 

 Panamint Valley, April 21. At Lone Willow Spring Dr. Merriam saw 

 several April 24, and at Leach Point Spring he observed large num- 

 bers as they came to the water to drink, and fifteen were secured for food 

 the evening of April 25. In Amargosa Canon and at Besting Springs 

 they were seen April 27. Mr. Nelson found it exceedingly abundant 

 in the vicinity of springs and streams in the Panamint and Grapevine 

 mountains, where it ranged well up among the pifions. He found them 

 more sparingly at the head of Owens Biver, in the Sierra Nevada, on 

 both slopes of the Inyo Mountains, and up to the piiions in the White 

 Mountains. They were nesting in various situations, some on the 

 ground sheltered by a bush, others on horizontal branches of cotton- 

 woods, willows, or pinons, and one he found in a small cup-shaped de- 

 pression on the top of a tall granite boulder 6 feet from the ground. 

 Doves were very common in the Argus Eange in Shepherd Canon and 

 at Maturango Spring, where they filled in very nicely the shortcomings 

 of the mess. In the Coso Mountains the species was just as abundant 

 and occurred up through the canons to the summit of the range. 



Dr. Merriam contributes the following records for eastern Nevada, 

 northwest Arizona, and southwest Utah : In the Charleston Mountains, 

 Nevada, it was seen both at Mountain Spring, and at the Upper Cotton- 

 wood Springs at tbe east foot of the mountains, April 30 ; at Vegas ranch, 

 May 1; abundant in Vegas Wash and at the Bend of the Colorado, 

 May 2-4; in the valley of the Muddy and Virgin it was common May 

 7—8; in the Juniper Mountains dozens came to Sheep Spring to drink, 

 the evening of May 18 5 at Pahroc Spring it was very abundant May 

 20-22; in Pahranagat Valley it was common and unusually tame May 

 22-26; at Quartz Spring, on the western slope of the Desert Mountains, 

 it fairly swarmed on the evening of May 22, there being no other water 

 for many miles in any direction ; in Oasis Valley it was abundant June 

 1, feeding on seeds of the bunch grass (Orpzopsis cuspidata), and was 

 common on Mount Magruder June 4-9. At the mouth of Beaverdam 

 Creek in northwestern Arizona doves were excessively-abundant May 

 9-10, and were common throughout the juniper belt of the Beaverdam 

 Mountains, Utah, May 10-11. In the Santa Clara Valley, Utah, they 

 were likewise abundant May 11-15. 



