Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-05-13
STUDIES IN
NATURAL HISTORY
By JAMES HENRY RICE, Jr.
THE DONES.

If one wishes to know what the differ
ence is between pigeons and doves 1t
may be answered that there is no diff
ference. A pigeon is u dove and dove
| is a pigeon. The word pigeon is OF
| Norman French origin and the word
dove is of Saxon origin, so it amounts
| to the difference between sheep and
| mutton, between calf and veal, between
| the OK and beef.
Altogether there are more than five
hundred species Of pigeons described
| by naturalists, some of which have be-
come extinct The Dodo, Of Mauritius,
which gave as its name to our express
sion, "as extinct as the Dodo, be-
longed To branch of the pigeon
family. The Dodo was an immense
fightless bird. with a mere hint OF
wings; it was far larger than our
domestic turkey, although not so tall:
Not being able to fly, it was destroyed
by hogs which had been turned loose
on Mauritius. Pigeons are distributed
all over the world: except in the Arctic
and Antarctic regions. Some Of the
finest specimens come from The
Tropics, such as the Crowned Pigeons
and the Fruit Pigeons
1t was pigeons Of which Moses wrote
in the Twenty Second chapter OF
Deuteronomy, when he charged the
Jews not to molest the old bird on the
nest, but to take the eggs, or even the
Young (the squabs). Before this oc-
Cured the memorable incident when
Noah sent the dove out of the Ark to
discover dry land and found it by the
bird bringing back a green leaf IN It's
beak.
The Turtle Dove is gentle and
beautiful bird, but it's colors vanish
RAPIDLY after the bird is dead. When
living the glossy, iridescent breast of
the male bird and the soft hues Of the
female form a lovely contrast. This
dove was named BY Prince Charles
Lucien Bonaparte after his cousin
whom he later married. Her name was
Zenaide; so. in giving scientific
name to the Turtle Dove, Prince 4 ma
parte honored his wife. calling the BIRD
Zenaidura, the last word ura being the
Greek oura, meaning tail; the name or
the species he gave as macroura, from
the Greek. macros, long, and oura, tail;
10 which Caroinensis is affixed.
Necessity for Scientific Terms.
Right here, it should be explained
why scientific name is necessary.
People make fun Of it, because they do
not understand why it's use is abso-
lutely necessary The reason is that
there is but one scientific name for
each species of bird or other animal.
This is the same throughout the world
| It is given in Greek and Latin, for the
simple reason that learned men OF
every nation know these languages.
Even person ignorant of the, langu-
ages can look up the words in any
Greek or Latin lexicon. There may pc
many common names. The FIlcker, or
Golden winged woodpeckcr, has more
than two hundred common names IN
different parts Of the country. The
scientific name is exact, and shows
what bird is meant; it can be no other
The Turtle Dove is not migrant.
It wanders over large areas in search
of food sometimes going as far nnrth
as Canada and AS far south as the west
indies; but the bird belongs to the
Southern States. Nowhere is it more
abundant than in South Carolina. Two
broods are raised each year and the
eggs are white. Two eggs are laid.
In feeding their young, doves have
the habits Of all pigeons, namely the
food is converted into a cu"d like MIX
in the crop and elected into the mouth
Of the young bird.
Doves Almost Purely Seed Eaters.
Turtle Doves are almost purely seed
! caters. My friend, DR.. George a. Beyer
! Of Tulane university, New Orleans, told
me that he had found earth worms IN
the crops Of doves; but such u thlng
must be rare. I have never seen any
| thing but seeds in their crops. nor has
anybody reported finding anything else
except Prof. Boyer.
A gentleman, who lives at Thomas
Vile Ga, told me ten years ago that
doves were then feeding on the seeds
Of cookie -burrs on his Florida p.anta-
ton and he offered the crops Of doves
as evidence.
As destroyers of weed seeds doves
have no rival: except among the black-
bird family, the 1cteridae. Ten thou
sand weed seed have been taken from
the crop Of single dove on several
occasio In fact ragweed and the
! So called hogweed, or anlaranth, have
| been known TO be eXtirpated in COM
munity by doves. These noXious weeds,
| the bane Of the farmer, produce an
enormous crop Of seed, so that the
value Of the dove in eating them is evil
| dent.
Do Not Injure Corn.
Complaint has been made Of doves
pulling sprouting corn and eating rice
to a harmful extent, but investigation
has not shown that damage from this
cause is at all general. About mid
winter doves congrcgate in large flocks,
it is then they feed on weed seed,
which the wind has shaken out. On
no account should these birds be shot
at this season. They are doing
superb work for the good Of agricul-
| ture.
The little Ground Dove (Chacmepelia
passerina terrcstris) has habits some
what similar to it's larger relative. 1t is
rarely molested and is not treated as
Il game blrd. Therefore, it is protected
! by the general law at all seasons. y
swift flyer. the Ground Dove will be-
come tame when properly treated and
wander about the yard and the lots OF
small towns. 1t has plalntlVc coo
uttered often from the midst of dense
everSreenS.
The great blizzard of February 1888
almost caused the Ground Dove 10 be-
come extinct. For years afterward
they were rare: now they are coming
back, and it is hoped that they will
again become numerous like they used
tu be.
Strictly speaking the dove was not
classed by Sportsmen among the game
birds. This, however. was loose
term, for it was supposed to mean any
| TN nd &c