32 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XV 
and are gone by the last of September. The same author thinks it possible that 
two broods might be reared in southern Washington but only one farther north ; 
and he gives the nesting time as May to July. These months include all the spe- 
cific dates given for the region north of California. 
In the mountains of Arizona, nests with eggs have been reported with appar- 
ent authenticity from March 6 to September 25 (Bendire, 1892, p. 123). This 
indicates a protracted breeding season, though the extreme dates are probably 
quite exceptional. It does not follow either that the same pair of birds rears two 
or more broods the same year. That not all the birds nest in a given locality at 
the same time is attested by Fowler (Condor^ i893> P- 69 .) 
The accompanying table shows all the actual dates of nesting known to the 
writer within the state of California. Extremes are May 3 and July 30, the first 
for a fresh egg, the latter for an egg nearly ready to hatch. The mean date for 
Table Giving Data in Regard to the Nesting oe the Band-tailed Pigeon in California 
Date 
May 3, 1901 
May 11, 1901 
Place 
Pine Mt., 3250 ft., 
Sail Diego Co. 
Pine Mt., 3250 ft., 
San Diego Co. 
San Jacinto Mts. at 6500 ft.. May 14, 1897 
Riverside Co. 
San Jacinto Mts. at 6500 ft.. May 14, 1897 
Riverside Co. 
Mt. Wilson, 5500 ft.. May 23, 1897 
Los Angeles Co. 
Cuyamaca Mts., 4 miles from June 4, 1896 
Julian, San Diego Co. 
Pine Mt., 3250 ft., June 24, 1901 
San Diego Co. 
San Jacinto Mts. at Fuller's July 1, 1908 
Mill, 5900 ft.. Riverside Co. 
Mt. Wilson, 5500 ft., 
Los Angeles Co. 
Lagunitas, 
Marin Co. 
Barley Flats, 5600 ft., 
Los Angeles Co. 
Barley Flats, 5600 ft., 
Los Angeles Co. 
July 5, 1894 
July 30, 1912 
Contents of Nest 
2 eggs (fresh) 
1 egg (incubation well 
advanced) 
1 squab (just hatched) 
1 squab (half-grown) 
Authority 
Sharp (1902, p. 16) 
Sharp ( 1902, p. 16) 
Gilman (1903, p. 134) 
Gilman ( 1903, p. 134) 
1 squab (about one week old) Grinnell (1898, p. 20) 
adult bird on nest, but 
not flushed. 
1 egg (incub. adv. ; same 
nest as May 11, 1901) 
1 egg (incubation slight) 
1 egg (considerably 
incubated) 
1 egg (incubation far 
advanced) 
last of July, 1888 1 young (able to fly) 
last of July, 1888 1 young (able to fly) 
Albert M. Ingersoll 
(in letter) 
Sharp (1902, p. 16) 
Museum Vert. Zool. 
Grinnell (1898, p. 20) 
Joseph Mailliard (in 
letter) 
Antonin Jay (in letter) 
Antonin Jay (in letter) 
eggs in the nest is June 16. A remarkably brief nesting season is thus indicated 
as regards our immediate region, and the same evidently holds with our winter 
visiting birds from the northwest coast. 
The general statement is prevalent in works on western ornithology that two 
or more broods are reared by the Band-tailed Pigeon each year. A close exami- 
nation of all the definite evidence submitted makes such a state of affairs, how- 
ever, improbable. The notion seems to have originated with the report (prob- 
ably an intentional prevarication on the part of an unprincipled collector and deal- 
er in birds’ eggs) that the Band-tailed Pigeon bred in southern Arizona “nearly 
every month in the year, and several broods must be reared by each pair during 
the season’’. The observations made by Swarth (1904, p. 5) and Fowler (1903, 
p. 69) in the same region do not support the above statement. 
Considering the time necessary to rear a brood — as already shown, close to 
two months — and the extreme dates between which eggs or young have been 
