554 



THE BAXD-'I'All.l'.D PIGEON. 



if his clinsen tower; and here, by the exercise of sharp 



hearing, he may feel a measure of security from the 



;nnner. It has ci>nic to such a pass, liowever. that the shot-gun is 



tlie barren summits i 



cvesis'ht and shar])er 



])ro\\ iinj:; 



being abandoned fur tlic ride 



the .whistle of the "_'_' l"ng." 



and iIr- nlder birds are all too familiar with 



In the presumed absence 

 of enemies, these Pigeons 

 indulge in loud cooing, not 

 unlike that of the domestic 

 \-ariety. In the presence 

 of danger they sit very 

 quiet, and are so successful 

 in escaping attention, that 

 often the first notice one 

 has of their whereabouts is 

 the loud flapping of wings 

 in hurried de|)arture. So 

 nois\' are they in tUght, 

 that a hunter, coming un- 

 t'xpectedly u])on a feeding 

 com])an\- in the woods, is 

 likely to be disconcerted by 

 his overwhelming luck and 

 miss fire altogether. 



The Band-tailed Pigeon 

 is fairly comparable in 

 ]ioint of size and savori- 

 ness with the famed Pas- 

 senger Pigeon, and acorn- 

 fed birds are declared to be 

 especially toothsome. In 

 ])oint of numbers, howexer, 

 in spite of some extrava- 

 gant statements on the ])art 

 of the (ilder explorers, thev 

 •■ui.TiKKi)-To uujUiXATK AMI i.Ai ii..\." ^^,^^.^ ^^.^.^j. eomparablc to 



the migrating hosts of the East. Suckdey once saw a thousand birds in a 

 tlock, and said that larger flocks were rci:)ortecl from the settled portions of 

 the Cowlitz. Flocks of half that size ma\- still be seen occasionall\- in the 

 fall, but companies fif a dozen or twenty individuals are more nearly the rule, 

 anrl these are verv much less common than formerly, save in the less fre- 

 quented districts of the 01\nipic fooihills and along the ^^'est Coast. 



