THE PA&SENGER PIGEON IN PENNSYLVANIA 83 



''Brush Valley furnished a diversion to our party in 

 the shape of a wild-pigeon story that in spite of the 

 earnestness and apparent lack of incentive to prevar- 

 icate or exaggerate on the part of our informant, is 

 to be accepted with mental reservation. Mr. Snook, a 

 farmer residing near the Stover home, reports that last 

 fall — in buckwheat time— he was visited by a flock of 

 at least five hundred wild pigeons, and that the pre- 

 vious spring a flock of about half that size were seen 

 on his place. In the face of the fact that naturalists 

 and wild bird lovers have been offering big rewards 

 for even a single pair of wild pigeons, and that the 

 species have long been regarded as extinct, this story 

 seems highly improbable. Notwithstanding the re- 

 moteness of the section of alleged visitation, it is too 

 important an occurrence not to have been reported or 

 discovered by interested persons. The further fact 

 that none of Mr. Snook's neighbors saw the birds, 

 which in such numbers should have been noticed 

 throughout the entire valley, puts a climax to the 

 doubts of the veracity of the story, forcing the con- 

 clusion that it was onlv a dream. 



(Brush \^alley. Centre County, is the wildest sec- 

 tion of the central part of Pennsylvania, lumbered over 

 many years ago, and is nicely grown up with a new 

 forest. William Snook avers that he saw the wild 

 pigeons in May and September, li>l(>.) 



