240 
ORDERS OF BIRDS— PIGEONS AND DOVES 
ally wrong ( which it is!) to kill wild creatures 
without reason, mercy and common-sense? 
The Mourning- Dove received its “ given ” name 
from the mournful sound of its call-notes. Its 
sad-voiced “Coo, coo, coo,” suggests moaning, 
and, next to the awful, storm-beaten wail of the 
screech-owl, it is, under certain conditions, 
the most doleful sound uttered by an American 
bird. I knew one sensitive woman who was 
so affected by the daily “mourning” of a neigh- 
boring Dove that she begged a sportsman to 
frighten it away. 
Another peculiar fact about this bird is the 
strange musical note that is sounded by the 
vibration of its wings. As the bird springs from 
the ground in flight, or wings its way overhead, 
the pulsations of its wings give forth a ringing, 
metallic sound, like the twanging of a tight wire. 
This Dove loves country roads, more than any 
other bird, and to those who love beautiful 
things, its exquisitely moulded form and im- 
maculate plumage is always a pleasing touch of 
Nature. One might as well try to describe in 
words the colors in a fire opal as those of this 
bird. There is pink iridescence, and brownish, 
and grayish, and blackish, and other shades too 
numerous to mention, but the combination baf- 
fles description. 
This Dove breeds throughout the United 
States from the international boundary to the 
Gulf, and migrates as far south as Panama. In 
California it is now counted as a “game-bird,” 
and killed by sportsmen, and in the South also 
it is killed by the negroes for food. A great 
“game-bird” this, truly! A genuine sportsman 
must be very hard pressed for gun victims when 
he can seriously call this tamest of all birds 
“game.” And can any farmer in his senses 
afford the expense of having Doves shot on his 
farm, or in his neighborhood? Let us see. 
When the Biological Survey of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture took up the case of the 
Mourning-Dove, and examined the stomachs of 
237 specimens, the summary of results proved 
that as a weed-destroyer this bird is one of the 
most valuable in North America. Weed-seeds 
constitute 64 per cent of its food, all the year 
round, with little monthly variations. In order to 
arrive at an exact determination, the seeds in 
three stomachs were carefully identified and 
counted. One contained the following: 
Orange hawkweed ( Hieracium au- 
rantiacum) 4,820 seeds. 
Slender paspalum ( Paspalum seta- 
ceum) 2,600 “ 
Hoary vervain (Verbena stricta ) .. . 950 “ 
Panicum 620 “ 
Carolina cranesbill ( Geranium caro- 
linianum) 120 “ 
Yellow wood-sorrel (Oxalis stricta). 50 “ 
Miscellaneous weeds 40 “ 
9,200 
The second specimen of the three contained 
6,400 seeds of the farmers’ ancient and persistent 
enemy, fox-tail ( Chadocloa ), while the third 
turned out 7,500 seeds of the yellow wood-sorrel. 
The grand total of weed-seeds for those three 
Doves was 23,100! And this for only one day’s 
supply. Assuming that those three Doves had 
been killed as “game” by some “sportsman (!),” 
previous to their meal, and those seeds had pro- 
duced 23,100 weeds, how much would it have cost 
in labor at $1.50 per day to destroy them? 
Besides the 64 per cent of weed-seeds in the 
237 stomachs, there was found 32 per cent of 
grain, but of this three-fourths was waste grain, 
gleaned in the fields after harvest. 
Whoever does aught for the protection of 
Doves, does well ; and a word to the wise is suf- 
ficient. 
