Milford chronicle., 1956-09-21
Game Ard Fish News
Mourning Dove

Delaware dove-hunters will have
a 55 halliday split season opening
Thursday, September 20 at 12 o.
clock noon E. S. T. A hunter does
not need duck stamp for doying
just a hunting license.
The mourning dove is SO named
because of its note. II is truly an
American bird since it nests in
every state of our country and is
quite common in Delaware. The
dove lays only two eggs in its
poorly constructed nest of small
sticks, but is somewhat unique in
that it will raise two and some
times three broods a year.
Doves and pigeons the world
over typicaIly lay only one or two
eggs, and the mourning dove with
its two-egg clutch is no exception.
Since quail lay t5 to Is eggs, pleas
ants 10 to 12, and many songbirds
A to z, it may seem strange at first
that doves lay so few 1t. is easily
explained when one learns how
the nestlings are fed.
After the eggs are laid and dur
ing incubation of the eggs a gland
in the crop or throat of the ad
ults develops, and just as the
young hatch. this gland begins to
put out a cheesy substance known
as pigeon milk. The young feed by
inserting their bills into the mouth
of the adult who forces pigeon milk
down their throats by a pumping
action of the head. After the young
are a few days old, the crop gland
in the adults reccdes and there is
more room in the crop for seeds.
These, too, are fed the young and
their diet is gradually changed
from pure pigeon milk to more and
more seeds. By the time they are
ready to leave the nest, their diet
is almost exclusively seeds. A max
i1num of two young can be fed by
this method, and it is now obvious
why the brood size is SO small.
Both adults feed the young in this
way.
Doves subsist almost exclusive
ly on cereal grains, small seeds of
different plants and various wild
berries.
Although dove hunting in Del
aware does not attract large
number of followers, many hunters
consider that doves provide trick
ier wing shooting than any other
species. This gray bullet" has
been clocked at so miles per hour,
and some observers believe he can
beat 20. If you can connect on one
shot i'm three on pass shooting,
you're not doing badly. With linn
IL of eight, you can burn up one to
two boxes of shells before you know
it in an hour or two of fast, late
afternoon shooting.
Many epicures believe the mour-
ming dove has few peers as a table
delicacy. He weighs less than a
bobwhite ,and it takes several to
make a meal But come in tired
after an afternoon hunt, put sew
eral birds to simmering in brown,
ur-thickened gravy in covered
iron skillet and you will agree that
you'll have to go a long way to
find anything better.
New Dam at Horsey's Pond, Laurel
Through the generosity Of
Laurel family, the public will have
a boat launching and parking area
on Horsey's Pond. William, Pearl,
Ernest. Sallie. Elwood and Estelle
Chapman and Madelyn and Charles
Trammeil, joint owners, have deed
ed, without charge, approximately
two acres to the Delaware Game
and Fish Commission
Upon the completion of the new
dam and spillway Commission per-
sonnel will install a concrete boat
ramp and gravel and grade the ad-
iacent area for cars ands tractors.
West of the new dam and only
few hundred yards from the Lat-
rel-SharptOwn Road, the complet-
ed 20 acre pond and launching fa-
cilities will provide an ideal recre-
ational spot in the Laurel-Seaford
communities.
A legislative appropriation COW
ering the cost of the dam and spill
way along with the Delaware Game
and Fish Commissions assuming
the responsibility for the clearing
of the bottom and long range man
agement and maintenance of the
area, the restoration of Horsey's
POND is possible
Mr. and Mrs. Howard HI. Dick
erson and Mr. and Mrs. Carlton ].
Spice decided the dam site to the
state. Land owners bordering the
Horsey Pond site gave the Della
ware Game and Fish Commission
a perpetual easement TO raise the
water level to a specified point.