The Pigeon Butcher's Defense loi 



Manistee birds hatched three times unmolested, that 

 there was a body several times larger there, than at 

 the Crooked and Maple, and that many from each body 

 went further north entirely out of reach and nested 

 at least once, possibly twice again, some idea may be 

 formed of the immense addition to the army of pigeons 

 from the Michigan nestings of 1878. Many more 

 young birds left the Crooked River nesting alone, than 

 all, old or young, destroyed during the entire season's 

 pigeoning. 



Prof. Roney's lament about the young dying when 

 deprived of the parent bird, and his addition to the 

 number "sacrificed to Mammon" from that source, 

 compares favorably with the poisoned berry story, 

 or the attack on Turner. Admitting that 1,500,000 

 birds were caught and killed, not more than half of 

 these would be old birds, some of which would not be 

 nesting, and from some of which the young had left 

 the nest. If for every one of the 750,000 old birds 

 caught and killed, the squab had died, this would make 

 a total slaughter of 2,250,000, or about one four hun- 

 dred and fiftieth of the number he says. 



I don't believe Prof. Roney knows what a billion is. 

 However, there were not 750,000, no, nor 100,000 

 squabs killed by losing their parents. It Is a well- 

 proved fact that the old bird coming In will stop and 

 feed any squab heard crying for food, that In this way 

 they look out for one another's young, and the orphans 



