The Lace-necked Dove — SCHWARTZ and SCHWARTZ 
103 
greatly accelerated. In those areas of abundant 
food far removed from roosting sites, Lace- 
necked Doves infiltrate irregularly through- 
out the morning, reaching an apparent maxi- 
mum number about noon. Heaviest feeding 
takes place during the next few hours. Begin- 
ning about 3:00 p.m. birds with full crops 
(averaging 10.1 cubic centimeters in 85 birds 
with a maximum of 35.1 cubic centimeters) 
start returning singly or in groups of twos or 
threes along definite flyways to their roosting 
sites. Distances of at least 5 miles are often 
traveled between feeding grounds and com- 
munal, coastal roosting sites but doves may 
reside in certain roosting areas with available 
food. 
Lace-necked Doves and Barred Doves often 
feed in the same fields, giving rise to the local 
opinion that serious competition for foods 
occurs between these species. However, Lace- 
necked Doves select principally large seeds 
and fruits while Barred Doves utilize small- 
seeded, rapidly maturing annuals and grasses 
(Schwartz and Schwartz, 1949) . As a result of 
these food preferences, the use of these fields 
by each species is generally at different stages 
of cultivation or plant succession. Although 
some of the foods eaten by both doves may 
be of the same species, it is highly sig- 
nificant that only one plant, uhaloa, is an 
important food in the diet of both birds. 
This shrub occurs in great abundance 
throughout most dove range and the seeds 
are more than ample to supply the needs of 
both species of doves as well as of other 
game birds which also utilize them. 
Our observations indicate that either fresh 
or brackish surface water or succulent fruit 
is a prerequisite for good Lace-necked Dove 
range. Birds resident in areas without avail- 
able surface water appear to substitute suc- 
culent fruits in fulfilling their daily water 
needs. Elsewhere, doves readily utilize cattle 
troughs (especially overflow or seeps) , ir- 
rigation ditches, reservoirs, pools, streams, 
and springs, in addition to rainfall and dew 
which may collect in the leaf axils of many 
plants. The proximity of these water sources 
to feeding and roosting areas plays an im- 
portant role in the daily range. Customarily, 
Lace-necked Doves use water close to their 
feeding area in late afternoon but in the 
morning resort to a water source near their 
roosts. At these latter sites they may linger 
and bathe and preen their feathers before 
venturing out to their foraging grounds for 
the day. In some dry sections, existing water 
holes now attract doves over approximately 
a 5 -mile radius. The presence of water within 
flying range of the nest has been shown by 
Arnold (1943) to be a necessity for the west- 
ern White-winged Dove, Zenaida asiatica 
mearnsi (Ridgway), and it is not unlikely 
that a similar requirement holds for the Lace- 
necked Dove in Hawaii. 
Roosting areas are usually dense wooded 
thickets of algaroba on the coastal flats, 
dense groves of Eucalyptus sp. or of ironwood 
{Casuarina sp.), or the peripheries of forested 
areas and wooded draws radiating therefrom, 
although some roosting occurs in practically 
any timbered area. In some parts of the 
Islands, Lace-necked Doves tend to be gre- 
garious in their roosting habits, and the 
commonest community roosting sites in the 
dense coastal stands of algaroba harbor night- 
ly populations of a hundred or more birds 
per acre. 
BREEDING 
From the little evidence accumulated dur- 
ing this survey, we believe that Lace-necked 
Doves breed mostly from February through 
September and possibly, to a limited extent, 
during the entire year. 
We noticed that the '‘cooing” song of the 
males becomes greatly accelerated during 
January and for the next 2 months is in- 
creasingly obvious during the early morning 
hours and to a lesser extent during the day. 
After a peak from mid-March through mid- 
July, the intensity of "cooing” in the general 
population gradually diminishes until by late 
October occasional courting songs are heard 
