These counts may have one further use. If run once at the beginning 
of the breeding season and then again about one or two months later, they 
may be useful in showing early season production. This and the above possi- 
bilities should be explored in subsequent years. 
In summary, I believe that the mail-carrier surveys of breeding 
season dove populations have sufficient potentialities to warrant their 
further study. With the types of geographical relationships disclosed 
by the Wisconsin counts, I believe that it is extremely desirable that 
these counts be conducted throughout the range of the Mourning Dove. 
First, they might give us a great deal of information on the basic 
ecology of the species. Secondly, in a hunted, migratory species, we 
should know the regions of high populations, and hence, regions of high 
contributions to the bag. These surveys might provide this knowledge. 
And finally, they could be the source of inexpensive population indices. 
In the field of wildlife management, the opportunities to get large 
amounts of data easily and cheaply are few and far between. The mail- 
carriers of the country represent a huge potential source of information, 
and the Mourning Bove, by its open and conspicuous habits, may be one of 
the few if not the only game bird which really lends itself well to this 
method. 
Flocking Counts 
A third survey method was set up to obtain data on fall flocking 
tendencies. All game research and management personnel of the Wisconsin 
Conservation Department were requested to keep data on the size, location, 
time of day, and activity of all flocks of four or more birds seen during 
the regular performance of their duties. Observations were begun in late 
July and continued until the birds had departed. 
The purposes of these observations were three-fold; (1) to compare 
geographical range of flocks with the breeding range obtained through the 
mail-carriers; (2) to obtain dates on premigratory build-up and departure; 
and (3) to explore the possibilities of using this method as a population 
index. The advantages of this method are that there are no extra expense 
or time involved. . 
- Three-hundred-ten flock observations were reported. The average flock 
sizes and number of flocks seen of 307 of the observations are represented 
graphically in Figure 3. Number of flocks seen is graphed only for the 
period of intensive observations between August 5 and September 22. These 
represent the dates, respectively, of the request for the counts, and the 
request for return of accumulated observations. 
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