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Nov., 1911 SOME ROBINS' AND MOURNING DOVES' NESTS 185 rounding irrigated portions of the valley ahead of the development of a sufficient number of trees large enough to be suitable for nests. The tobin's nest mentioned above was begun on May 2, 1910, and was con- structed of alfalfa and weed stems plastered together 'with. mud and lined with rootlets after the usual robin style, but it was placed on a six inch beam close under the roof of an open cow-shed. The nest was about six feet above the ground. On May 15 it was nosed down by an inquisitive horse, breaking the three eggs which it contained. A nest was built shortly afterward, possibly by this same pair, in a cork elm tree on the lawn. This nest was built in a heavy fork about twelve feet above the ground. These robins perhaps lacked a strong tree nesting instinct, because they con- Fig. 56. x MOURNING DOVES' NEST ON TI-IE GROUND structed a loosely attached nest. Sufficient mud and other,material had not been put in the base of the nest to wedge it solidly in the tree fork. This nest, with the four eggs which it contained, was destroyed by being blown out of the tree during a moderate gale on June 9, 1910. During this same season of 1910 a pair of robins built a nest in the fork of. a cherry tree about four feet above the ground. This pair was successful in rearing its young. During the present season, 1911, a pair of robins built in a honey- suckle vine on aporch within five feet of a door, through which people passed frequently. The nest was well built and of the usual type. There were three eggs in the clutch, which were hatched and the young successfully reared. Mourning Doves do build on low horizontal limbs and in broad forks as is their