May, 1916 NI?STING O17 THI? BAND-TAILI?D PIGEON 111 about in a very lackadaisical m?nner. The pair would sit together on the few sticks already in place for many minutes; at last the female seemed to remember that she was nest building, and flew up the mountain side followed by the male. Considerable time was spent on every trip after material, so very few sticks were added each day, and it was not until six days had elapsed that the flimsy platform was completed and the egg laid. This last event occurred on July 14. On September 18 I frightened another pigeon from an apparently completed nest. I think it was a female but could not tell with certainty. The other one of the pair was close by, and the two flew away together. .A few days later a flock was observed feeding on acorns in a group of large oak trees ( Quercus emoryi). The antics of these birds were more like the Fig. 34. A TYPICAL NEST OF THE BAND-TAILED PIGEON; FROM THE HUACHUCA MOUNTAINS, ARIZONA. acrobatic stunts of parrots than of pigeons. They would walk out on the slender branches till they tipped down, then, hanging by their feet, would secure an acorn, and drop off to alight on a branch lower down. In spite of their large size, pigeons are surprisingly inconspicuous when thus engaged in feeding among the leaves. The Prairie Falcon and Cooper Hawk take consid-
erable toll from the flocks. These two terrors of the air will dash into a tree
and grab a pigeon off a branch, rarely making an unsuccessful raid. The Prairie Falcon is the chief offender. This is an appropriate place in which to state that I have never found a nest of the Band-tailed Pigeon with more than one egg or one young bird in it. Also thai I have never seen a pigeon carry an egg from the nest, a feat that one writer has claimed to have observed in this region. I have, however,
