What is "mourning dove"

Mourning \Mourn"ing\, a.

1. Grieving; sorrowing; lamenting.

2. Employed to express sorrow or grief; worn or used as appropriate to the condition of one bereaved or sorrowing; as, mourning garments; a mourning ring; a mourning pin, and the like.

   Mourning bride (Bot.), a garden flower ( Scabiosa atropurpurea) with dark purple or crimson flowers in flattened heads.

   Mourning dove (Zo["o]l.), a wild dove ( Zenaidura macroura) found throughout the United States; -- so named from its plaintive note. Called also Carolina dove. See Illust. under Dove.

   Mourning warbler (Zo["o]l.), an American ground warbler ( Geothlypis Philadelphia). The male has the head, neck, and chest, deep ash-gray, mixed with black on the throat and chest; other lower parts are pure yellow.

Dove \Dove\ (d[u^]v), n. [OE. dove, duve, douve, AS. d[=u]fe; akin to OS. d[=u]ba, D. duif, OHG. t[=u]ba, G. taube, Icel. d[=u]fa, Sw. dufva, Dan. due, Goth. d[=u]b[=o]; perh. from the root of E. dive.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) A pigeon of the genus Columba and various related genera. The species are numerous.

   Note: The domestic dove, including the varieties called fantails, tumblers, carrier pigeons, etc., was derived from the rock pigeon ( Columba livia) of Europe and Asia; the turtledove of Europe, celebrated for its sweet, plaintive note, is Columba turtur or Turtur vulgaris; the ringdove, the largest of European species, is Columba palumbus; the Carolina dove, or Mourning dove, is Zenaidura macroura; the sea dove is the little auk ( Mergulus alle or Alle alle). See Turtledove, Ground dove, and Rock pigeon. The dove is a symbol of peace, innocence, gentleness, and affection; also, in art and in the Scriptures, the typical symbol of the Holy Ghost.

2. A word of endearment for one regarded as pure and gentle.

   O my dove, . . . let me hear thy voice.
   --Cant. ii. 14.

3. a person advocating peace, compromise or conciliation rather than war or conflict. Opposite of hawk.

   Dove tick (Zo["o]l.), a mite ( Argas reflexus) which infests doves and other birds.

   Soiled dove, a prostitute. [Slang]

n. A grey-coloured dove, ''Zenaida macroura'', that has a mournful call, native to North America

n. wild dove of the United States having a mournful call [syn: Zenaidura macroura]

The mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) is a member of the dove family, Columbidae. The bird is also known as the turtle dove, American mourning dove or the rain dove, and was once 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 a leading gamebird, with more than 20 million birds (up to 70 million in some years) shot annually in the U.S., both for sport and for meat. Its ability to sustain its population under such pressure is due to its prolific breeding; in warm areas, one pair may raise up to six broods of two young each in a single year. The wings make an unusual whistling sound upon take-off and landing, a form of sonation. The bird is a strong flier, capable of speeds up to .

Mourning doves are light grey and brown and generally muted in color. Males and females are similar in appearance. The species is generally monogamous, with two squabs (young) per brood. Both parents incubate and care for the young. Mourning doves eat almost exclusively seeds, but the young are fed crop milk by their parents.

Mourning Dove or Christal Quintasket ( Okanogan) was a Native American author in the United States best known for her 1927 novel Cogewea, the Half-Blood: A Depiction of the Great Montana Cattle Range and her 1933 work Coyote Stories.

Cogewea was one of the first novels to be written by a Native American woman and to feature a female protagonist. Cogewea explores the lives of Cogewea, a mixed-blood ranch woman, and her sisters on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Coyote Stories (1933) is a collection of what she called Native American Folklore.