138 
FINDING NATURE'S TREASURES 
They walked back to Uncle Jack. “That little dove 
was a good actress,” said Uncle Jack. “She made you 
think she was hurt so badly that she could not fly. She 
hoped you would follow her.” 
“But I can’t see why she wanted us to follow her,” 
said Fred. 
“She wanted you to go away from this tree, and that 
was her way of getting you to do it,” explained Uncle 
Jack. “She is a mother turtledove, and she did not want 
you to find her nest on that branch over Marylee’s head.” 
They looked up. There was a nest. It was a very poor 
one, made of just a few sticks placed on a limb. Two 
baby turtledoves were sitting in the nest. The children 
could see them plainly from the ground. 
“The turtledove is not a fighting bird,” said Uncle 
Jack. “So when an enemy comes near, the mother bird 
acts as if she were hurt, and tries to get the enemy to 
follow her away from her nest.” 
“I didn't know that birds were as smart as that,” 
said Buddy. 
“What has become of the rest of her babies?” asked 
Marylee. “I see only two there. Do you suppose the 
others have fallen out of that little flat nest?” 
“No,” replied Uncle Jack. “She never has more than 
two babies at a time. She lays only two pure white eggs. 
When these babies are large enough to fly, she will raise 
another family, just as Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird do.” 
“Does the turtledove have to work as hard as the 
bluebirds do to find enough insects for her babies to eat?” 
asked Buddy. 
