THF, CALL-ROAD COUNT AS AN INDEX TO BREEDING POPULATIONS 
OF THF MOURNING DOV® IN FAST TENNESSEE + 
By Clayton Kerley 
Acknowledgment 
T should like to express my appreciation to Dr. J. C. Howell for 
advice and assistance throughout the course of this study; to the staff 
and students of the Department of Zoology and Entomology and employees 
of the Tennessee State Game and Fish Commission for their assistance in 
running the final two-man count; to Mr. Albert E. Hyder of the Federal 
Aid Section of the Commission for his assistance in obtaining the 
vehicles and gasoline which were essential in doing the field work 
involved; to Mr. Will John Cloyd for instruction and assistance in 
preparing the maps and graphs; to Mr. Arthur Pollard for advice in 
drawing conclusions from the statistics collected during this course 
of study; to Dr. A. W. Jones and Dr. James T. Tanner for their critical 
reading of the manuscript, and to Leonard FE. Foote for editing the manu- 
script for publication. 
Introduction 
In order to manage the Mourning Dove (Zenaidura macroura L.) as a 
game bird a practical census method must be found. A yearly production 
index must be established and used as a guide in setting the bag limit 
and length of the hunting season (Moore, 1950; Nelson, et al., 1951). 
The present study was undertaken at the request of representatives 
of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Wildlife Management Institute, 
and the Federal Aid Section of the Tennessee State Game and Fish Commission. 
These agencies wished to compare the data collected in this biological 
region with the data collected in various other regions throughout the 
United States. 
This study includes the call-road count with a check every other 
month by a count made by five two-man crews. Added to these counts is 
an absolute census of the square mile surrounding one of the stations 
on the route. 
mm ee eo ae 
* Contribution from Tennessee Game and Fish Commission and the 
Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Tennessee, sub- 
mitted for partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of 
Master of Science, University of Tennessee. 
