70 The Passenger Pigeon 



and at one roost only, I quote the following extract 

 from an interesting article "On the Habits, Methods of 

 Capture, and Nesting of the Wild Pigeon," with an 

 account of the Michigan nesting of 1878, by Prof. H. B. 

 Roney, in the Chicago Field (Vol. X, pp. 345-347) : 



"The nesting area, situated near Petoskey, covered 

 something like 100,000 acres of land, and included not 

 less than 150,000 acres within its limits, being in length 

 about 40 miles by 3 to 10 in width. The number of 

 dead birds sent by rail was estimated at 12,500 daily, 

 or 1,500,000 for the summer, besides 80,352 live birds; 

 an equal number was sent by water. We have," says 

 the writer, "adding the thousands of dead and wounded 

 ones not secured, and the myriads of squabs left dead 

 in the nest, at the lowest possible estimate, a grand 

 total of one billion pigeons sacrificed to Mammon 

 during the nesting of 1878." 



The last mentioned figure is undoubtedly far above 

 the actual number killed during that or any other year, 

 but even granting that but a million were killed at this 

 roost, the slaughter is enormous enough, and it is not 

 strange that the number of these pigeons are now few, 

 compared with former years. 



Capt. B. F. Goss, of Peewaukee, Wisconsin, writes 

 me: "Ten years ago the wild pigeon bred in great 

 roosts in the northern parts of Wisconsin, and it also 

 bred singly in this vicinity; up to six or eight years ago 

 they were plenty. The nest was a small, rough plat- 



