The Western White-winged Dove 
in even but impassioned tones, is probably intended for a single pair of 
ears, or is an utterance en famille , after the eternal question has been 
settled. Anyhow, with a score of courtships proceeding abreast, the 
dove-thronged forest of May-time vibrates to a volume of sound not 
otherwise attained in the West; and the fortunate visitor is not likely 
soon to forget the multitudinous pipe-organing of Melopelia. 
The White¬ 
winged Dove is a tar¬ 
dy migrant, and its 
numerous arrival in 
late April is quite con¬ 
spicuous. Flight is* 
conducted at low 
levels, and occupancy 
is effected by a pro¬ 
gressive invasion 
rather than by a sud¬ 
den coup. The birds 
troop across the roads 
in endless desulto¬ 
ry columns, or else 
rise hastily from a 
wayside snack; or, 
most likely of all, 
gather upon ex¬ 
posed branches to 
mark with curious 
wooden detach¬ 
ment the passing 
of the intruder. 
When surprised, the White-wing makes off with a noisy flapping, like that 
of a Band-tailed Pigeon; and the bird is so proud of the noise it can make 
with its wings, that it not infrequently stages for the benefit of the ladies a 
sort of flap-doodle song-flight. There is no song forthcoming, but the per¬ 
former applauds his own resolution by a rhythmical percussion of the wings. 
Seated on the nesting platform, especially with the tail turned 
away, the White-winged Dove scarcely differs in appearance from its 
cousin, the Mourning Dove; but when the bird is flushed, a large white 
crescent on each wing flashes into view, and one notes the broad terminal 
band of white on a tail spread fan-wise. The stolid groups which gather 
in trees remind one, rather, of Pigeons (Band-tails) than of our more 
familiar and more solitary Dove. 
u6y 
Taken in Arizona 
A WAYSIDE REFUGE 
WHITE-WINGED DOVES IN TREE-TOPS 
Photo by the Author 
