Mar., 1915 
A FORTY ACRE BIRD CENSUS AT SACATON, ARIZONA 
87 
of the school acreage, and one in the northwest ten acres. One of the nests 
was ont in the open near the irrigating ditch, and had no shelter whatever. 
It was on the gentle slope of a small depression, and children passed near it 
every day on their way to school. April 7 it had seven eggs in it, and the bird 
continued to deposit them till May 6, when the eighteenth was in the nest. 
When I found the nest I was afraid the hot sun would cook the eggs, so threw 
down a plank in a careless manner nearby. I moved it a little nearer each 
day until it shaded the eggs most of the time, the old bird apparently paying 
no attention to the intrusion, as she kept on with the work of filling the nest 
with eggs. Soon after the set was complete she left the nest, or was caught or 
killed, as the eggs remained uncared for until May 31, when I took them. It 
was a job to blow them, as long exposure to the sun had hardened and dried the 
contents of many. 
Two nests were in the school woodpile, containing nineteen and thirteen 
eggs, respectively. Another, in a pile of short boards and kindling about ten 
feet from the school woodshed, had seven eggs in it. The nest out in the fields 
had nine eggs, and was at the base of a Lyeium bush. About the middle of 
June I put some straw in an old nail keg. open at one end, and placed it on its 
side in the forks of a mesquite tree about two feet from the ground. The 
mesquite had some saplings starting from the trunk that sheltered the keg. 
June 24 I found that a quail had moved in and had laid two eggs. Later she 
completed the set, only eight eggs, and successfully hatched all but one. She 
was quite tame on the nest, and would not be scared off by any mild measures. 
1 tried hammering on the rear of the keg, rolling it gently and talking to her, 
requesting her to get off and let me count the eggs, but unless I put in my 
hand at the front of the keg she sat pat. 
Zenaidura macroura marginella. Western Mourning Dove. Eleven 
Mourning Dove ’s nests were found in the limits of the forty acres. Eight were 
in mesquites, two in Zizyphus and one in a catsclaw bush. The average height 
was seven feet. The latest date was July 23, when two nests were found, one 
with fresh eggs, the other with eggs about half incubated. 
Melopelia asiatica trudeaui. White-winged Dove. One nest with young 
was found, and this a few feet outside the limits of the forty acres, though 
many of the birds fed over the tract. The absence of large mesquite trees was 
the reason for the lack of nests, as these birds seem to prefer to build higher 
up in the trees than do the Mourning Doves. Both species frequent the school 
yard, the Mourning Doves to eat the weed and flower seeds, particularly those 
of the California poppy, and the White-wings to eat the watermelon T put in 
the back yard for them. 
Scardafella inca. Inca Dove. A brood was raised in a mesquite tree not. 
far from the house, and a second set laid in the same nest June 21. A few 
days later the eggs disappeared. These little birds frequent houses and yards, 
but seem slow to come around a new establishment. The house here has been 
built three years, this being the fourth summer, and the birds have just 
adopted it. Last summer a pair came and looked it over, staying a few days, 
and this year they settled here. 
Geococcyx californianus. Roadrunner. A nest with four young nearly 
grown was found on June 7, in a mesquite about five feet from the ground. 
When T looked into it two of the birds jumped from the nest, and would not 
stay when put back. The others remained, as they were smaller. Another 
