TURTLE DOVE. 
13 
The Turtle Dove is a general inhabitant, in summer, of the 
United States, from Canada to Florida, and from the sea-coast 
to the Mississippi, and far to the westward. They are, howev- 
er, partially migratory in the northern and middle states; and 
collect together in North and South Carolina, and their corres- 
ponding parallels, in great numbers, during the winter. On the 
second of February, in the neighbourhood of Newbern, North 
Carolina, I saw a flock of Turtle Doves of many hundreds; in 
other places, as I advanced farther south, particularly near the 
Savannah river, in Georgia, the woods were swarming with 
them, and the whistling of their wings were heard in every 
direction. 
On their return to the north in March, and early in April, 
they disperse so generally over the country, that there are rare- 
ly more than three or four seen together, most frequently only 
two. Here they commonly fly in pairs, resort constantly to the 
public roads, to dust themselves, and procure gravel; are often 
seen in the farmer’s yard, before the door, the stable, barn and 
other outhouses, in search of food, seeming little inferior in 
familiarity at such times to the domestic Pigeon. They often 
mix with the poultry, while they are fed in the morning, visit 
the yard and adjoining road many times a day, and the pump, 
creek, horse-trough and rills for water. 
Their flight is quick, vigorous, and always accompanied by 
a peculiar whistling of the wings, by which they can easily be 
distinguished from the Wild Pigeon. They fly with great 
swiftness, alight on trees, fences, or on the ground indiscrimin- 
ately; are exceedingly fond of buckwheat, hemp seed, and In- 
dian corn; feed on the berries of the holly, the dogwood and 
poke, buckle berries, partridge berries, and the small acorns of 
the live oak, and shrub oak. They devour large quantities of 
gravel, and sometimes pay a visit to the kitchen garden for peas, 
for which they have a particular regard. 
In this part of Pennsylvania they commence building about 
the beginning of May. The nest is very rudely constructed, ge- 
nerally in an evergreen — among the thick foliage of a vine — in 
an orchard, on the horizontal branches of an apple-tree, and in 
