118 BIRD FRIENDS 



About a hundred years ago Alexander Wilson re- 

 corded a flight of pigeons which he estimated to be 

 one mile wide and 240 miles long. Judged from the 

 time it took to pass over, which was four hours, he 

 estimated that this flock contained over 2,000,000- 

 000 birds. These pigeons nested together in large 

 colonies with many nests in a single tree. Audubon 

 records a breeding-place several miles in breadth 

 and forty miles in extent. 



During the first half of the last century the birds 

 decreased very noticeably in numbers and by the 

 middle of the century this decrease was being no- 

 ticed by bird-students, although enormous flocks 

 were seen occasionally at this time, and even for 

 twenty years later in certain States. The last large 

 nesting-place was recorded in Michigan, in 1878, 

 covering a space of 100,000 acres. But from this 

 time on, the records of this bird became fewer and 

 fewer, and the last authentic record was in 1908. 

 A single bird was kept in captivity in the Cincin- 

 nati Zoological Garden for several years after this. 

 This bird, believed to be the last of its race, died on 

 September 1, 1914. Many efforts have been made in 

 recent years to find the passenger pigeon and prizes 

 offered, but without avail, so that we are driven to 

 the conclusion that there is not now left a single liv- 

 ing bird of a species which was, within the memory 

 of men now living, the most abundant species of 

 bird in this country. 



