Evening star., 1948-03-25
This and That
By Charles E. Tracewell

turtle dove Is happy visitor to any yard
He Is migrant in most cases, although
many OF him stay here the year around
Some persons in nearby Virginia have forty
all winter but most OF us will be fortunate II
we see half dozen.
In most yards the dove appears along with
the robin. He Is both graceful and clumsy
beautiful and ludicrous gentle and belligerent
This is quite combination for any one bird,
The question is. how does he manage such
opposites?
His motions in walking through the grass
may seem great deal like waddle
But let him get into the air. there things are
different. Like his cousin, the pigeon, he is
master of the airways.
One popularity is the whistling sound made
by his wings when he takes off Few birds do
this. 1t is a sure identification sound for q
dove.
His head is what makes him look ludicrous,
though he is actually beautiful bird The
doves head might be called pewee It Is
rather silly looking head, not up to the more
generous lines of the rest of the creature,
Soft grays and darker tones combine with
some rosy tint to make him really pretty. He
Is a small edition of the extinct passenger
pigeon. Due to the greed and cruelty of man,
no one can compare these two birds any more
except IN colored plates in book But as
long as we have the turtle dove, also called
the mourning dove, we can have very fair
4SlCd VI VIC chtlIlCG pigeon.
There is nothing timid about the turtle
dove, although he seems the picture of peace
as he plows through the grassy waves of the
lawn.
The dove has been used as a symbol of
peace for so many centuries that it always
strikes modern observer as strange to see him
sail into a startling or a blue Jay and chase
it away.
While he cannot be called greedy he is a good
feeder and stands for no nonsense at a bird
feeding station
Another set of opposites may be added to our
list. This birds COO is classed by some as
CHEEKY, by others as mournful Whether it is
one way or the other probably depends as
much upon the listener as upon the actual
notes. The voice Is distinctly contralto and
1t is likely that to the average human ear
such voice is a sad one. A clear high soprano
is beautiful voice, and seldom is an unhappy
one.
The three or four notes made by the dove
are low and full. They are about the same
number as used in real Hawaiian melodies.
notorious for their sadness
Just as true melody from Hawaii is sad
because it so often speaks of parting with
music to fit the idea, so the song of the turtle
dove may somehow suggest parting to many
listener There are others, however who
regard these same notes as outdoor music
especially fitted for the home ground. Per-
maps more than most birds, the doves song
has certain solidity. 1t suggests those en-
during values that lie as supporting structure
OF every good home and home community No
doubt it was some such idea that made the
dove popular cage bird in every country
town in America.
We no longer cage them Maybe someday
we will no longer shoot them. It is enough to
have them accept our bounty at feeding
station. They come regularly every day. if
unmolested, and set up home somewhere in
the neighborhood, from which their coo-oo-oo
may be heard at frequent intervals, especially
toward evening, when 1t descends like
benediction.
1t is an odd thing that the doves nest al
ways seems to be down the block or up the
block or across the way, never in ones own
yard.
There has not been a summer in eighteen
years We have lived in Chevy Chase that we
have not heard the doves steady cooing but
never once have we seen the nest. Perhaps
this is not much of loss, for turtle doves
make very poor nests. since their bills and feet
are unsuited to the work.
Doves eat weed seeds and insects and are
therefore most useful to have around They
are rather bulky, and eat a great deal, so
their service in this respect Is not small
After ALL one does not have to have any
reason for liking to have them around. They
are Just nice nsaghbora