146 THE CONDOR Vol. XXIII 
ground; it was fairly substantial, being largely built of twigs. On May 3 there 
were two eggs in it. It was not examined again until May 9 when it was 
found to contain three eggs, one of which looked slightly yellowish. The first 
bird hatched May 16, the second May 17, and the third not until May 22. 
Therefore the nest mates of the latter had a great start, one being six days 
old and weighing 40.3 grams, and the other five days old and weighing 37.8 
grams, while the poor infant weighed only 4.4 grams. The next day it had 
hardly gained at all, weighing only 4.8 grams, and the day after it was dead; 
it had been too tiny to compete with the big squabs. These latter birds left 
the nest when 12 and 138 days old. 
Fig. 26. THREE YOUNG MOURNING DOVES IN A ROBIN’S 
NEST, 8, 6 AND 7 DAYS OLD, RESPECTIVELY. 
Photographed by Joseph M. Thuringer. 
At least 35 sets of three eggs of Mourning Doves have been reported, but, 
as far as I can learn, only four instances* of three young in a nest. In only 
one of these is the comparative size of the young mentioned: They were 
‘‘all of one size’? (Wharram). In our two eases the only one that was entirely 
successful was placed in a robin’s nest and the birds hatched within a day of 
each other; while in the other the third bird that hatched five and six days 
after its nest-mates lived only two days. These experiences suggest two possi- 
*Fisher, A. K. Report on the Ornithology of the Death Valley Expedition of 1891. 
N. Amer. Fauna No. 7, 1893, p. 33; Semmes, Jr., T. The Mourning Dove. Oologist, XXIV, 
1907, pp. 8-9; Wharram, S. V. Dove’s Nest.. Oologist, XXXII, 1915, p. 134. 
