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TURTLE DOVE. 



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, however, par- 

 tially migratory in the northern and middle states; and collect 

 together in North and South Carolina and then- corresponding pa- 

 rallels, in great numbers, during the winter. On the second of Fe- 

 bruary, 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 were 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, 

 in 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 dis- 

 tinguished from the Wild Pigeon. They fly with great swiftness, 

 alight on trees, fences, or on the ground indiscriminately; are ex- 

 ceedingly fond of buckwheat, hemp seed, and Indian corn; feed 

 on the berries of the holly, the dogwood and poke, buckle berries, 

 partridge berries, and the sm.all 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 parti- 

 cular regard. 



