PIGEONS AND DUVES 



41 



iniiiutc, allowing two Pigeons to the scjuare yard, 

 as one billion, one hundred and lifleen million, 

 one hundred and thirty-six thousand. lie esti- 

 mated, also, that a flock of this size would re- 

 quire eight million, seven hundred and twelve 

 thousand bushels of food a day, and this was 

 only a small part of the three days' flight. 



Great flights of Pigeons ranged from the AUe- 

 ghenics to the Mississi])i)i and from Hudson Hay 

 to the (julf of Mexico until after tiie middle of 

 tile nineteenth century. Even two decades later, 

 enormous numbers of Pigeons nested in several 

 States. 



Their winter roosting places almost defy de- 

 scription. Audubon rode through one on the 

 banks of the Green l^iver in Kentucky for more 

 than forty miles, crossing it in difTferent direc- 

 tions, and found its average width to be rather 

 more than three miles, tie observed that the 

 ejecta covered the whole extent of the roosting 

 place, like snow ; that many trees two feet in 

 diameter were broken ofif not far from the 

 ground, and that the branches of many of the 

 largest and tallest had given way. The birds 

 came in soon after sundown with a noise that 

 sounded " like a gale passing througli the rigging 

 of a close-reefed vessel," causing a great current 

 of air as they passed ; and here and there as the 

 flocks alighted, the limbs gave way with a crash, 

 destroying hundreds of birds beneath. It was a 

 scene of uproar and confusion. No one dared 

 venture into the woods during tiie night, because 

 of the failing branches. 



The nesting places sometimes were equal in 

 size to the roosting places, for tiie Pigeons con- 

 gregated in enormous numbers to breed in the 

 northern and eastern States. When food was 

 plentiful in the forests, the birds concentrated in 

 large numbers ; when it was not, they scattered 

 in smaller groups. The last great nesting place 

 of which we iiave adequate record was in Michi- 

 gan, in 1878. Prof. H. B. Roney states, in the 

 American Field, that the nesting near Petoskey, 

 that year, covered something like 100,000 acres, 

 and included not less than 150,000 acres within 

 its limits. It was estimated to be about forty 

 miles in length and from three to ten miles in 

 width. It is difficult to approximate the number 

 of millions of Pigeons that occupied tliat great 

 nesting place. 



.A.udubon, who described the dreadful havoc 

 made among these birds on their roosting 

 grounds by man, says that people unacquainted 

 with them might naturally conclude that such 

 destruction would soon put an end to the species ; 

 but he had satisfied himself, bv long observation. 



lliat nothing but the gradual diminution of the 

 forests could accomplisli the decrease of llie 

 birds, for he believed that they not infrequently 

 ([uadrupled their numbers during the year, and 

 always doubled tliem. Tlie enormous multitudes 

 of tiie Pigeons made such an impression upon 

 the mind that the extinction of the species at that 

 time, and for many years afterwards, seemed an 

 absolute inii)ossibility. Ncvertiieless, it has oc- 

 curred. How can this apparent impossibility be 

 explained? It cannot be accounted for by the 

 dcstructiveness of their natural enemies, for 

 during the years when the Pigeons were tiie most 

 abundant their natural enemies were most 

 numerous. The extinction of the Pigeons has 

 been coincident willi the disappearance of bears, 

 panthers, wolves, lynxes, and some of the larger 

 birds of prey from a large portion of tiieir range. 



The aborigines never could have reduced ap- 

 preciably the numbers of the species. Where- 

 ever the great roosts were established, Indians 

 always gatliered in large numbers. This, accord- 

 ing to their traditions, had been the custom 

 among them from time immemorial. They al- 

 ways had slaughtered these birds, young and 

 old, in great quantities ; but tiiere was no market 

 among tlie Indians, and tlie only way in which 

 they could preserve the meat for future use was 

 by drying or smoking the breasts. They cured 

 large numbers in this way. Also, they were ac- 

 customed to kill great quantities of the squabs in 

 order to try out the fat, whicii was used as butter 

 is used by the whites. Lawson writes (1709) : 

 " You may find several Indian towns of not 

 above seventeen houses that have more tlian 100 

 gallons of pigeon's oil or fat." 



But it was not until a market demand for 

 the birds was created by the whites that the In- 

 dians ever seriously affected the increase of the 

 Pigeons. Kalm states, in his monograph of the 

 Pigeon, that the Indians of Canada would not 

 molest the Pigeons in their breeding places until 

 the young were able to fly. They did everything 

 in their power to prevent the whites from dis- 

 turbing them, even using threats, where pleading 

 did not avail. 



When the white man appeared on this conti- 

 nent, conditions rapidly changed. Practically all 

 the early settlers were accustomed to the use of 

 firearms ; and wherever Pigeons appeared in 

 great numbers, the inhabitants armed themselves 

 with guns, clubs, stones, poles, and whatever 

 could be used to destroy the birds. The most 

 destructive implement was the net, to which the 

 birds were attracted by bait, and under which 

 vast numbers of them were trapped. Gunners 



