. Birds and nature in natural colors : being a scientific and popular treatise on four hundred birds of the United States and Canada . e him fromthe sweating brow, the blistered hands and the aching back? There is one means of weed destroying that has been entirely overlookedby the agriculturists, probably because they never seriously considered the foodhabits of the dove. Recent investigations made by the Biological Survey, U. S. Department ofAgriculture, of the food of the dove, prove this bird to be of incalculable examination of the contents of 237 stomachs of the dove shows over
. Birds and nature in natural colors : being a scientific and popular treatise on four hundred birds of the United States and Canada . e him fromthe sweating brow, the blistered hands and the aching back? There is one means of weed destroying that has been entirely overlookedby the agriculturists, probably because they never seriously considered the foodhabits of the dove. Recent investigations made by the Biological Survey, U. S. Department ofAgriculture, of the food of the dove, prove this bird to be of incalculable examination of the contents of 237 stomachs of the dove shows over 99per cent of its food consists wholly of vegetable matter in the shape of seeds;less than 1 per cent being animal food. Wheat, oats, rye, corn, barley and buck-wheat were found in 150 of the stomachs, and constituted 32 per cent of thetotal food. However, three-fourths of this amount was waste grain picked upin the fields after the harvesting was over. Of the various grains eaten, wheatis the favorite, and is almost the only one taken when it is in good condition, andmost of this was eaten in the months of July and August. 338. Its nest is usually a frail platform of twigs, if placed in a bush or tree, butin many instances the eggs are laid on the ground, especially in the treeless nesting sites are frequently selected, such as the abandoned nests ofother species of birds, tops of stumps, rocks, sheds, etc. Eggs—Pure white, and moderately glossy. Usual number two, sometimesonly one. Corn, the second in amount, was all old damaged grain taken from thefields after the harvest, or from roads or stock yards in summer. The principaland almost constant diet, however, is the seeds of weeds. These are eaten atall seasons of the year. They constitute 64 per cent of the annual food supply,and show very little variation during any month. Some of the seeds eaten wereso minute it would seem that none but the smallest species of birds would eatthem, and then only when driven
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirdsnorthamerica
