388 BULLETIN 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The postjuvenal molt took place during August, September, and 

 October, earlier or later according to the date of hatching. It ap- 

 parently involved all the contour plumage, the wing coverts, and 

 the tail. In the first winter plumage, which was practically adult, 

 the sexes were differentiated. Adults had one complete molt in 

 August and September.] 



Food. — The immense forests of North America, before they were 

 devastated and wasted by the ax and fire of the white settlers, fur- 

 nished an inexhaustible supply of food to the enormous hosts of 

 wild pigeons. The principal food was mast — acorns, beechnuts, and 

 chestnuts — and also the fruit or nuts of arry of the forest trees, as 

 well as wild berries and fruits, such as cherries, raspberries, blue- 

 berries, currants, pokeberries (also called pigeon berries), and straw- 

 berries, grain, seeds of weeds, and grasses. I have the records of 

 the stomach contents of three passenger pigeons I shot at Magnolia, 

 Mass., two in September, 1877, and one in July, 1878. All contained 

 small pebbles and the hips and seeds of wild roses. S. C. Bishop 

 (1924) reports that in the partially mummified remains of a pas- 

 senger pigeon taken in New York State many } T ears ago, he found 

 in the crop 25 well-preserved seeds of the sugar maple and close to the 

 base of each fruit the wing had been sheared off and discarded. 

 Aughey (1878) found that six stomachs of birds, taken in Nebraska, 

 each averaged eight locusts and two other insects and some seeds. 

 Audubon (1840) found three entire acorns in one crop and, in the 

 stomach, fragments of others and three pieces of quartz. Records of 

 stomach contents of the passenger pigeon are rare. During the nest- 

 ing season insects were largely eaten, especially earthworms, grubs, 

 and grasshoppers. The pigeons were fond of salt and frequented 

 natural salt licks as well as grounds baited with salt. 



Pehr Kalm (1911) lists the following as food of the passenger 

 pigeon : Acorns, beechnuts, seeds of red-flowered maple, of American 

 elm. mulberries, rye, wheat, buckwheat, but not Indian corn, berries or 

 the tupelo, as well as of other trees and plants. He also notes the 

 fondness of the pigeons for salt. 



Wilson (1832) says that besides acorns and beechnuts, " buck- 

 wheat, hemp seed, Indian corn, holly berries, hackberries, huckle- 

 berries, and many others furnish them with abundance of food at all 

 seasons. The acorns of the live oak are also eagerly sought after 

 by these birds, and rice has been frequently found in individuals 

 killed many hundred miles to the northward of the nearest rice 

 plantation. * * * I have taken from the crop of a single wild 

 pigeon, a good handful of the kernels of beechnuts intermixed with 

 acorns and chestnuts." He calculated that the immense number of 

 pigeons he observed in a flock in Kentucky would eat 17,424,000 



