1902
May 29
(No 4)
of the head and usually without stopping, in short
behaving much like all Pigeons (including domestic ones).
When engaged in feeding they ramble about over the whole
field covering wide areas in comparatively short
spaces of time. Carriages passing along the neighboring road
do not seem to alarm them but at the approach of
a man on foot they cease feeding and, after standing
erect and watchful for a minute or two, take flight
sometimes all at nearly the same moment sometimes two
or three at a time, each bird announcing his departure
to the others by the peculiar, hollow, whistling sound of
his wings (sometimes but not always emitted after he has
settled on a distant flight) but never I believe by any
vocal note.
Habits of the Carolina Dove
  One or two of the males will frequently fly to the
neighboring woods and coo at short, regular intervals in
the upper branches of the pines or oaks for fifteen or
twenty minutes at a time and occasionally one of
them will coo on the ground in the open field standing
on some mound or clod of earth slightly higher than
the general surface.
  The number of birds which one may find at this season
in this field varies considerably, as I have already indicated,
according to the time of day and also, probably, according
to conditions of weather. On May 18th Mr. J. E. Thayer
started twelve there at one time; on the 26th he & I
saw, no doubt, several pairs but never more than two birds
at once (we spent most of the day in sight of the place);
To-day there were at no time less than six or eight in
the field during the forenoon at at 4 P.M. we counted eighteen
at once. Mr. Thayer found a nest with two young nearly able to fly
on May 18th in a pitch pine grove about a mile from the field.
Eighteen Doves in one field at the same time.
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