Carl Naether—Concerning Foreign Doves 217


CONCERNING FOREIGN DOVES


By Carl Naether


Since last I reported concerning the use of dependable foster parents

for various kinds of foreign Doves, I have experimented considerably

with Ring-neck, White, and California Mourning Doves. Though I

know personally a number of Dove breeders who have had good success

with Ring-neck and White Doves, the pairs I tried would invariably

let their adopted young starve, once these had left the nest.


Fortunately, I was able last year to procure a number of pairs of

the California Mourning Dove, which since then I have used exclusively

for raising certain foreign Doves. In no case, so far at least, have

these doves failed to continue to feed their adopted young until they

were fully ready to shift for themselves—-surely, a noteworthy record.

All this despite the fact that both colour and general appearance of

some of the adopted offspring differ decidedly from those of the young

of the Mourning Dove. Moreover, whereas certain breeds of Doves are

extremely shy, especially during the breeding season, the Mourning

Doves are quite gentle. They will, as a matter of fact, not leave the

nest regardless of how closely I approach, so that if I wish to examine

its contents, I have to lift the closely sitting bird off. California

Mourning Doves will incubate successfully any eggs of a size similar

to their own, and raise the squabs of any Dove similar in size to their

own squabs. Their use as foster parents this year has enabled me to

raise to maturity many more young Doves than heretofore. Moreover,

since many breeds of foreign Doves seem to possess an unlimited

capacity for laying eggs, which frequently they refuse for some reason

or other to incubate, it is a comparatively simple matter to save the

majority of these eggs by placing them in the nests of Mourning Doves.

Strangely, I have not found that the length of time which eggs have

been incubated is an important factor in getting them promptly

hatched by foster parents and the young birds raised. In other words,

I have placed eggs ready to hatch within three or four days under

Mourning Doves that had been sitting but a short time. They accepted

readily, the considerably shortened period of incubation, dis¬

charging their new duties satisfactorily.



