Evening star., 1945-02-26
This and That
By Charles E. Tracepeu.

We had very interesting and charm
ing couple visit our house the other day,
They were dressed in gray and pink
and arrived by way of the garage roof
Most visitors, of course, arrive by the
front door, but turtle doves have their
own methods.
This was the first time in many
months that doves had flown to the feed
ing station beneath the maple.
No sooner were they down, than some
thing frightened them, and they flew
back up again. with the whistling of
wings which is sign of the species.
X
Sunf1ower seed, oatmeal, peanut hearts
and raisins will attract them.
Not at all f1nicky in their tastes, they
welcome grains and seeds of all kinds,
and are not above eating bit of bread,
now and then.
Bread. whenever used at a bird feed
ing place, should be moistened either
with warm water or milk This gives the
soft-billed birds better chance at it.
Turtle, or mourning, doves are well
come guests in most suburban yards.
In nearby Virginia as many as 40 at
time have been known to come.
This bird unfortunately is still classed
as game, and shot in wholesale quantities
at certain times of the year.
This is too bad, because it is fine one
to have around, in its own right, and
also because it so closely resembles the
extinct passenger pigeon.
The very sight of turtle dove ought
to remind one of the great fiocks of
pigeons which once darkened the
heavens over America.
Their extinction was totally unneces-
sary. Their numbers could have been
reduced without completely wiping them
out. Even the buffaloes still exist, in
small numbers. Why did the stupidity
and uncontrolled greed of man find it
essential to wipe out completely the
beautiful passenger pigeon?
All that we have left of him is a
certain resemblance which we find in
the dove. And it is good likeness, too,
as any one may see by carefully study
ing color plates of the pigeon in COM
parison with those of the turtle dove.
X y X
Snow brings out the beauty of the
mourning dove, the clean grays, the
tints of pink, and the dark markings
on the back.
The name turtle" was given because
OF these marks which really do resemble
those on the back of tortoise.
The name of mourning comes, of
course, from the low COO, which to most
listeners seems sad. Many homeowners
profess to find it distasteful, but on
the other hand many like to hear it.
1t is easy to forget the low-pitched
quality in the general beauty of the
soft call, If one is willing to listen to
it without preconceived notions.
X X X
The dove is a rather stupid -looking
bird, when seen at close range. The
head is small, and without the grace of
such species as the cardinal, or titmouse,
or chickadee, or even the raucous Jay.
Yet after the observer has watched q
dove closely for time he sees at last
that the bird has all the intelligence
that it needs for its life purposes, and
that the small head fits In very well
with the overall picture
In observing the basic things of ma
ture, we have to admit that in the begin
ming things were created without any
reference as to what man, the mighty,
would think of them thousands of years
later. Even parts Of our own bodies
lack architectural symmetry, as one
might say. If turtle dove has q small
head, SO have many humans, and they
have bat ears, too, which are not exactly
graceful. All in all, the dove stacks
up very well with the other birds which
come to our feeding places in winter.
Any one who has pair now may hope
that they viii settle down in the neigh
borhood some place and continue to
charm their friends with their low cries
durine spring and summer.