period September 1941 to January 1942 all agents and refuge managers of the 
southeastern region submitted monthly reports on the status of the bird as 
observed by them. In the Mississippi Valley (Kentucky and Arizona) there 
appeared to be an improvement in September but by October and November it was 
evident that this condition was entirely local and probably resulted from a 
more favorable breeding season in these sections. Migrant birds were few, and 
even in Illinois the game management agent reported that compared with last year 
dove population appeared to have decreased at least 25 to 30 percent. 
In States along the south Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the situation was 
continuously bad. Reports of 20 and 25 percent decreased from 1940 were fre- 
quent. Commenting on the situation in Virginia during September one agent 
reported a real shortage of doves in this section - based on his mileage travel 
on second-class country roads in many different counties-in the lower parts of 
this State and added that at times, several miles could be traveled without see- 
ing a single bird. An agent in Maryland reported that the decrease in 1941 was 
alarming and that it would be no exaggeration to state that there were 50 percent 
less doves in Maryland than in previous years. This condition was continuous 
to the southward. Clarence Cottam, of the Washington office, who traveled in 
October over large sections of South Carolina and Georgia and made a point of 
watching for doves, reported that he had never before seen so few birds in the 
Southe 
In the West the situation was not so acute, although material reductions 
in populations were recorded in Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, and California. From 
Texas also came many complaints that the shooting season opened too early, Septem- 
ber shooting being deplored by correspondents and press comments. On the other 
hand, Montana reported a satisfactory increase. In an analysis of the nation-wide 
reports on the 1941 fall migration compared with that for 1940, the increase cate- 
gory fell from 37 to 31 percent, and the decrease rose from 16 to 27 percent. 
The results of the survey made it apparent that the regulatory action taken 
in 1941 was not adequate, and a conference was held by officers of the Fish and 
Wildlife Service and the Southeastern Association of Game, Fish, and Conservation 
Commissioners, at Montgomery, Ala., in April,when all phases of the problem of 
proper mourning dove management were discussed. Since these birds do not colonize 
or even nest in one particular type of habitat, the possibility of aiding in their 
rehabilitation by the establishment of refuges is less feasible than in the case 
of migratory waterfowl. Reduction of the legal kill by sportsmen appears to be 
the only remedy. With this in mind, consideration was given to complete closure, 
but the conference finally decided to recommend reducing the bag and shortening 
the season. 
That the dove had a fairly good breeding season in many sections is gratifying, 
and there is reason to believe that restoration may be effected more rapidly than 
was at first anticipated, but this can come only by a rigid control of hunting. 
White-winged Dove 
The research project on the eastern and western white-winged doves has been 
continued, with arrangements to conclude field operations following the shooting 
season of 1942 and then to formulate a definite plan of management. 
Flyway Biologist Seunders made almost continuous studies during the breeding 
season in the lower Rio Grande Valley, in Tex., as well as in eastern Mexico, and 
8 
