The Last of the Pigeons 143 



flock of wild pigeons flying over the bay from Fisher- 

 man's Point to Stony Beach, and I assure you it re- 

 minded me of old times, from 1855 to 1880, when 

 pigeons were plentiful every day. So I dropped my 

 work and stood watching them. This flock was fol- 

 lowed by six more flocks, each containing about thirty- 

 five to eighty pigeons, except the last, which only con- 

 tained seven. All these flocks passed over within half 

 an hour. One flock of some fifty birds flew within gun- 

 shot of me, the others all the way from one hundred 

 to three hundred yards from where I stood." Mr. 

 Fugleberg is an old hunter and has had much experience 

 with the wild pigeon. In a later letter dated September 

 4, 1897, he writes: "On Sept. 2, 1897, ^ was hunting 

 prairie chickens near Lake Butte des Morts, Wis., 

 where I met a friend who told me that a few days 

 previous he had seen a flock of some twenty-five wild 

 pigeons and that they were the first he had seen for 

 years." This would appear as though these birds were 

 instinctively working back to their old haunts, as the 

 Winnebago region was once a favorite locality. We 

 hope that Wisconsin will follow Michigan In making 

 a close season on wild pigeons for ten years, and thus 

 give them a chance to multiply, and, perhaps, regain, In 

 a measure, their former abundance. 



In Forest and Stream of Sept. 25, 1897, appeared a 

 short notice of "Wild Pigeons In Nebraska," by "W. F. 

 R." Through the kindness of the editor he placed me In 



