1 88 CAROLINA PIGEON. 



The turtle dove is a general inhabitant in summer of the 

 United States, from Canada to Florida, and from the sea-coast 

 to the Mississippi, and far to the westward. They are, how- 

 ever, partially migratory in the northern and middle States ; 

 and collect together in North and South Carolina, and their 

 corresponding parallels, in great numbers, during the winter. 

 On the 2d of February, in the neighbourhood of Newbern, 

 North Carolina, I saw a flock of turtle doves of many hundreds ; 

 in other places, as I advanced farther south, particularly near 

 the Savannah river, in Georgia, the woods were swarming with 

 them, and the whistling of their wings was heard in every 

 direction. 



On their return to the north in March and early in April, 

 they disperse so generally over the country, that there are 

 rarely more than three or four seen together — most frequently 

 only two. Here they commonly fly in pairs, resort constantly 

 to the public roads to dust themselves and procure gravel ; are 

 often seen in the farmer's yard before the door, the stable, barn, 

 and other outhouses, iu search of food, seeming little inferior 

 in familiarity, at such times, to the domestic pigeon. They 

 often mix with the poultry while they are fed in the morning, 

 visit the yard and adjoining road many times a day, and the 

 pump, creek, horse-trough, and rills for water. 



Their flight is quick, vigorous, and always accompanied by 

 a peculiar whistling of the wings, by which they can easily be 

 distinguished from the wild pigeon. They fly with great 

 swiftness, alight on trees, fences, or on the ground indiscrimi- 

 nately ; are exceedingly fond of buckwheat, hempseed, and 

 Indian-corn ; feed on the berries of the holly, the dogwood, 

 and poke, huckleberries, partridge-berries, and the small 

 acorns of the live oak and shrub oak. They devour large 

 quantities of gravel, and sometimes pay a visit to the kitchen 

 garden for peas, for which they have a particular regard. 



In this part of Pennsylvania, they commence building 

 about the beginning of May. The nest is very rudely con- 

 structed, generally in an evergreen, among the thick foliage 



