May, 1916 
NESTING OF THE BAND-TAILED PIGEON 
111 
about in a very lackadaisical manner. The pair would sit together on the 
few sticks already in place for many minutes ; at last the female seemed to 
remember that she was nest building, and flew up the mountain side followed 
by the male. Considerable time was spent on every trip after material, so 
very few sticks were added each day, and it was not until six days had 
elapsed that the flimsy platform was completed and the egg laid. This last 
event occurred on July 14. On September 18 I frightened another pigeon 
from an apparently completed nest. I think it was a female but could not tell 
with certainty. The other one of the pair was close by, and the two flew 
away together. 
A few days later a flock was observed feeding on acorns in a group of large 
oak trees ( Quercus emoryi). The antics of these birds were more like the 
Fig. 34. A TYPICAL NEST OF THE BAND-TAILED PIGEON J FROM THE HUACIIUCA MOUNTAINS, 
Arizona. 
acrobatic stunts of parrots than of pigeons. They would walk out on the 
slender branches till they tipped down, then, hanging by their feet, would 
secure an acorn, and drop off to alight on a branch lower down. In spite of 
their large size, pigeons are surprisingly inconspicuous when thus engaged in 
feeding among the leaves. The Prairie Falcon and Cooper Hawk take consid- 
erable toll from the flocks. These two terrors of the air will dash into a tree 
and grab a pigeon off a branch, rarely making an unsuccessful raid. The 
Prairie Falcon is the chief offender. 
This is an appropriate place in which to state that I have never found a 
nest of the Band-tailed Pigeon with more than one egg or one young bird in 
it. Also that I have never seen a pigeon carry an egg from the nest, a feat 
that one writer has claimed to have observed in this region. 1 have, however, 
