84 
TIIE CONDOR 
Von. XI 
a chance glance upward revealed a Turkey Vulture drifting slowly across the sky. 
It almost seemed that once again I was down in the valley prowling about in the 
willows and brush along the Gould Ditch; yet I knew of half a dozen nests of 
Sierra Juncos within a few hundred feet of the lake and only a few moments before 
had been examining several nests of Western Robins in some small evergreens near 
the shore. 
While standing there in the warm sunshine listening to the characteristic 
“h’-wak-a-ree” of the blackbirds I was suddenly reminded that the San Joaquin 
Valley, with its vineyards and canals, was many miles away, for from a clump of 
small pines nearby burst the harsh scolding notes of a Blue-fronted [ay. A mo- 
ment or two later the soft but rather melancholy call of a Plumed Quail floated 
down to me from a pine-clad hillside. 
Fresno , California . 
THE MOURNING DOVE {ZEN AID UR A CAR OLINENSIS) IN 
CAPTIVITY 
By E. W. GIFFORD 
O N February 15, 1908, I purchased two of these beautiful doves, said to be 
cock and hen respectively. The smaller of the two, which I took to be 
the hen, was without a tail when I received her, but soon began growing 
one. The tail grew very fast, a difference in length being distinguishable daily. 
The birds were confined to a small summer-house, about five feet in diameter, until 
about the middle of April. About March 11 they began making their mournful 
cooing notes. 
On April 12 I placed these birds in an aviary with a ground area of four 
hundred square feet. They seemed quite delighted with the change, and immedi- 
ately went to feeding with several Barbary Turtle Doves in the short grass. About 
a week later I saw the smaller of the two, which I had thought was a female, in 
the act of cooing. Then I awakened to the fact that I had two cock birds. Had 
I been more familiar with the species I should not have been deceived by the 
difference in size. 
In May and June they cooed incessantly during the day, and often in the mid- 
dle of the night, especially if it was moonlight. It was also along about this time 
that the two males were seen fighting in the evenings. Both were in beautiful 
fresh plumage. 
On June 16 I purchased two more of these birds, both proving to be females. 
Inside of three or four days, one of them became very much attacht to one of the 
cock birds, and it was amusing to see the unladylike manner in which she followed 
him about and shook her wings. Occasionally he would give chase, only stopping 
to coo when very close, and that very seldom. The two males would at this date 
pursue each other with great viciousness. 
By June 24 the two females had mated with the two males. At this time one 
pair had a nest on top of a box placed in a peach tree; it consisted merely of a few 
sticks and straws. An egg was laid in it on June 23. 
The other pair had a nest on a shingle nailed on the beam of a board fence on 
the west side of the aviary. The males did all the carrying of nesting material in 
both cases, the females usually sitting on or near the nest. When selecting the nesting 
site, the male would go to a likely place and squat down, raising the tail and lowering 
