[Photo Source: Google online images. Called "MOURNING DOVE"]
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(25 APR 2011 -- IN MY GARDEN, there are many winged visitors. They bring a cheery greeting as they forage and gather whatever they find in my yard. I hear them by their songs and the beating of their wings. Frequently I am able to get a PIX or video (if I'm quick enough), some of these I have posted here to share. There are many DOVES, and I especially enjoy their 'coo cooing' songs as they go about their daily routine. The DOVES are always in pairs in my yard, and it is difficult to tell the male from the females since they are similar in size and coloring. I have posted a PIX with this NOTE that was made by John James Audubon; it is a PIX of the "Mourning Dove". Also, I have posted a PIX of John James Audubon with dog, horse, and rifle in an outdoor setting. ENJOY! [dht-2011] )
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John James Audubon (1785 –1851) – QUOTES
During all these years, there existed within me a tendency to follow Nature in her walks.
I can scarcely manage to scribble a tolerable English letter. I know that I am not a scholar, but meantime I am aware that no man living knows better than I do the habits of our birds.
I never for a day gave up listening to the songs of our birds, or watching their peculiar habits, or delineating them in the best way I could.
On landing at New York, I caught the yellow fever. The kind man who commanded the ship that brought me from France took charge of me and placed me under the care of two Quaker women. To their skillful and untiring care, I may safely say I owe my life.
[JUST A NOTE: TAKE A LOOK at the photo below and SEE IF YOU CAN FIND a Quaker woman in a bonnet in the left side of the PIX of John. dht-2011]
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Carolina Pigeon (now called MOURNING DOVE)
The Mourning Dove (
Zenaida macroura) is a member of the dove family (Columbidae). The bird is also called the
Western Turtle Dove or the
American Mourning Dove or
Rain Dove, and formerly was known as the
Carolina Pigeon or
Carolina Turtledove.
It is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds.
It is also the leading game bird, with up to 70 million birds shot annually in the U.S., both for sport and for meat.
Its ability to sustain its population under such pressure stems from its prolific breeding: in warm areas, one pair may raise up to six broods a year.
Its plaintive
woo-OO-oo-oo-oo call gives the bird its name.
The wings can make an unusual whistling sound upon take-off and landing, and the bird is a strong flier, capable of speeds up to 88 km/h (55 mph).
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WIKIPEDIA
John James Audubon (April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, hunter, and painter.
He painted, catalogued, and described the birds of North America in a manner far superior to what had gone before.
Born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) and raised in France as a youth, in his embrace of America and his outsize personality and achievements, he represented the new American people of the United States.
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BOOK
THE BIRDS OF AMERICA is the title of a book by naturalist and painter John James Audubon, containing paintings and scientific description of a wide variety of birds of the United States. It was first published as a series of sections between 1827 and 1838 in Edinburgh and London. The work consists of hand-colored, life-size prints made from engraved plates measuring around 39 by 26 inches. In December of 2010 a copy sold at auction for £7.3 million.
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[Photo Source: Google online images of John James Audubon with dog, horse, rifle in an outdoor setting, and Quaker woman in bonnet.]
