News from John Burroughs 185 



been deceived, though he was sure they were pigeons 

 by their speed and general look. 



None of these men could have had any motive in 

 trying to deceive me, and I feel bound to credit their 

 stories. Their statements, taken in connection with the 

 statement of my old schoolfellow at Prattsville, N. Y., 

 of whom I wrote you, makes me believe that there is a 

 large flock of wild pigeons that still at times frequents 

 this part of the State, and perhaps breeds somewhere 

 in the wilds of Sullivan or Ulster County. But they 

 ought to be heard from elsewhere — from the south or 

 southwest in winter. 



John Burroughs. 



P. S. — Just as I finished the above, I came upon the 

 following in the Poughkeepsie Sunday Courier: 



"We noticed recently an item asking whether wild 

 pigeons are returning. Sullivan County people seem 

 to be taking the lead in answering the question, but a 

 Dutchess County farmer named David Rosell, living 

 near Fishkill Plains, who was familiar with the afore- 

 said birds in old days, reports having seen a flock of 

 about thirty feeding on his buckwheat patch one morn- 

 ing last week, which gives evidence that the birds are 

 not extinct as supposed, but a flock may merely be 

 taking a tour around the world like Magellan of old. 

 Mr. Rosell stated that he had not seen any before in 

 about forty years. At first sight, he could hardly be- 

 lieve his eyes, but he was not long in becoming con- 

 vinced of their identity." 



