Evening star., 1934-02-10

and few birds are SO peautl1ulIy
plumaged. The males head, neck
and under parts are an exquisite
purplish wine color, which fades out
somewhat below. The snowy white
collar and the striking collarette Of
metallic scales add much to the dig
nifty of the uniform. The lower back,
| sides Of the body and wing Innings
are q slaty blue, and the back and
shoulders are glossy dark greenih
brown. With handsome yellow bill,
a red ring about his eye and q very
graceful tail that Is marked with a
black bar in the center, setting OF
the blush ash color Of the feathers
to perfection. you can hardly 60
wrong in identifying your bird.
When courting time draws near
couples seek the sheltered places
among the lower mountains. Here
they find the seeds of the alder that
they are 20 fond Of. At all other
times the pigeons are very sociable
among themselves, but with the re-
sponsibiuty Of homemaking and rear
ing their child, they seek home site
that insures privacy.
The love song of the band-tail Is
q loud COO, that sounds more like the
call Of his neighbor, the owl. In or
der to attract the attention Of his
shy lady love he ascends the top OF
the tallest tree or pole. II there be one
near, and. In this place Of elevation,
he proceeds to show Of. His voice
carries for some distance, and, hav-
ing announced his intentions. he
spreads his tail and wings and f1ys
about In q wide circle, then back to
his place in the sun he goes As he
races through the air he makes q
noise much like that Of one badly
afflicted with asthma.
When he has won his lady love by
his antics. they 60 together in search
of q building site As rule. the
branches Of q dark fir tree will be
selected. although nests have been
found in other trees. The love Of
home Is very pronounced In these
birds. and they will return again and
again to the same tree each year.
There are instances where they have
lost their first and even second home,
as well as their offspring. in their
chosen tree. yet they return to the
tree the following Spring.
The nest Is about 20 feet above
the ground, although they have been
found over 100 feet high. and even
in stumps of old trees q few feet from
the ground. The pigeon varies his
| locations to suit his needs, II neces-
sary. As far as is known, the mother
gathers the twigs and builds her
v1,s1 49, =,
band stands nearby, encouraging and
praising her. One egg and sometimes
two are found. If the mother is
startled, and it is when the egg Is
being brooded, she stands up In the
| center Of the nest. betraying her
presence at once. The brim Of the
nest is stood upon If she is taking care
of her baby and has been molested.
From IS to 20 days after the egg
is laid the funny looking baby, with
its yellow skin sparsely covered with
white cottony down. is demanding
food. The mother feeds 1t on a milky
| fluid which she regurgitates. When
one month old the infant Is covered
with a plumage so marked with white
edges that it looks sort OF scaly.
After getting rid of his first clothes
he will look like his parents
The food of the band-tan consists
mainly Of berries and nuts. They
are happy wanderers and gather their
food from many sources. Acorns they
swallow whole and berries are always
acceptable. They love to find syca-
more balls and gather In great flocks
over the fields where stubble has been
left by the cleaners.
The prairie falcon and Cooper's
hawk are busy enemies Of the band
tail. and the gray squirrel Is none too
kind. as she does not hesitate dispos-
sessing the rightful owner Of a newly
made home and even conhscating the
egg.
(Copyrieht. 1e34)