Evening star., 1944-02-22
This and That

BETHESDA.

Dear Sir:
Recently I had a new guest at the
bird feeding station in my yard. It Is
not rare bird, but one which had
not seen for several years.
"It was dove, just dove. but some
how he made great appeal to me,
gliding around beneath the station
which is on a stake. The gait of this
bird ALWAYS has intrigued me a great
deal
Some years past I was host to four
doves all winter long, but this time
only one. One spring there were eight
OF them, but they did not stay long.
Il have some friends over in Virginia,
across the river. who claim to have had
as many as so of them at one time. 1t
must have been a fine sight.
II am satisfied with my one dove. but
wonder where its mate is.
Sincerely yours, L. x. L."
Doves are variable at any feeding
station. This applies to cardinals.
towhees and mockingbirds, in par
ticular.
At one time, over a period of years,
the friend of birds may have dozen
redbirds in his yard. Later, most Of
these may vanish, and he will do well
to see pair.
There is no real accounting for these
variations, although such factors as
the establishment of new feeding places
and the presence of hawks may enter
into the picture.
The Carolina or turtle dove is one of
our most interesting birds, and one
which gives feeling of homesickness
to more persons, on hearing it away
from home, than any other bird
Undoubtedly the rich soft voice has
something to do with this
The sight of practically every other
species has cheering effect, especially
when glimpsed away from home. The
songs and calls of the other birds usu-
ally mean enlivenment
But somehow the soft call of the dove,
and the sight of him, makes the OBJ
server feel a bit melancholy. We believe
that this comes about because of child
hood memories.
**
Childhood memories of the dove SIM
ply mean normal small-town child
hood. Usually there WAS a dove in a
neighborhood, its call floating around
especially in the afternoon.
Insensibly these soft notes, and the
sight of the gentle dove" came to be
interviewer into pattern which spelled
home, sweet home
And whenever any one, in later years,
hears those notes, the soft coo-oo-oo,
he or she instantly is transported to q
time and place where the skies were
never gray, and no fault was ever
found
AS for the dove being gentle, that is
another matter. We have told before
here how this mental picture of the
dove arose through religious association.
One Of the first things the newcomer
to bird watching does Is to believe his
own eyes when he sees gentle dove"
attack blue jay and run it away from
the feeding place.
Then he gets closer view of the
dove, and sees that its head Is not very
intelligent looking, that it does, indeed,
more closely resemble the head of a
legendary monster than the head of
almost any other bird
Our dove has many interesting traits,
and makes a good addition to the bird
feeding scene. He feeds amicably with
the others-in most cases-and presents
an odd and different picture. Perched
on a tree limb in the snow. with the
sun cleaning on him, he makes a fine
sight, much resembling the extinct
passenger pigeon, which was stricken
from the list of living creatures through
greed and indifference. The Carolina
dove, we believe, deserves more protec-
ton than it receives. Something will
have to be done about this, unless we
want to send it into oblivion along with
the dodo and the passenger pigeon.