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BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
Range. —Tropical and sub-tropical Zones from Lower California, southeastern 
California, southern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and southern Texas south 
to Mexico; casual in Colorado, a rare straggler in British Columbia. 
State Records. —The White-winged Dove is a common breeding bird of southern 
Arizona almost to the New Mexico line, and was found nesting at Mcsilla in 1912 
(Merrill). [June 20 to 24,1926, it was found breeding commonly in the southern 
part of Hidalgo County. Many young were observed both in and out of the nest in 
Cottonwood Canyon, west of Cloverdale (Ligon).] A few that had apparently come 
up the Gila were seen by Mr. Fleming in the vicinity of Cliff in July and August, 1906; 
others that had apparently come up the San Francisco were seen at Glenwood by 
Charles Schafer in 1905-6 (Bailey); and they have also been reported as occurring 
sparingly in the small valleys opening into the Animas Valley from the Cloverdale 
Mountains (Goldman). A specimen was taken July 7, 1892, in the Guadalupe 
Canyon (Mearns); and one October 28, 1873, on the Gila River, in New Mexico 
(Henshaw); [a male was taken by Mr. Kellogg May 8, 1922, at Red rock, and ranch¬ 
men reported that they had appeared in the locality in the spring of 1921, though 
never noticed before that time. One was taken by Mr. Ligon, May 6-10, 1920, and 
others seen and heard between Culberson Ranch and San Luis Pass, among cotton¬ 
woods and ashes in a canyon containing water.] The species was reported many 
years ago from Santa Fe, and, though the report can not now be substantiated, yet it 
would not be surprising, since a specimen was taken in September, 1899, still farther 
north in the Wet Mountains of Colorado.— W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —In scattered colonies, in bushes and trees, a slight platform of twigs, 
often of mesquite leaf stems, from 4 to 26 feet from the ground. Eggs: Usually 2, 
white or creamy. 
Food. —Small seeds, grain, berries, mesquite beans, cactus fruit, and insects. 
General Habits. —From Mcsilla, Professor Merrill reported: “I 
have noted this species here only once, the summer of 1912. One 
pair nested in a poplar tree on the grounds of the College farm. The 
loud call, an arresting mixture of the Mourning Dove's soothing croon 
and the challening hoot of an owl, first called my attention to the pair. 
The nesting began in late May and the parents were busy feeding the 
young by the middle of June. They were often seen in a nearby 
wheat field and feeding on mulberries that grew in abundance near 
the nest tree. I was away in July and when I returned the first of 
August the birds were not to be seen, nor did they return this year” 
(MS). In southern Hidalgo County, Mr. Ligon found the White- 
wings nesting in oaks and sycamores along timbered canyons. 
Near the Gila River in Arizona, Doctor Wetmore found them 
nesting mainly in large colonies in dense tracts of mesquite, the largest 
colony, he estimated, containing at least tw T o thousand pairs. “The 
birds maintained regular flights across country and gathered in flocks 
to feed, so that they were conspicuous figures in the bird life of the 
region” (1920b, p. 140.) 
In southern Arizona, at our camp at the foot of the Santa Rita 
Mountains their loud calls were heard all day from the live oaks in 
front of the house, where they habitually nest. One was seen display- 
