THE PASSENGER PIGEON IN PENNSYLVANIA 211 



the females furnished a curd for the young which 

 looked like sour or thick milk, and was commonly 

 called "pigeon milk." This they fed to the young for 

 the first week or ten days after they were hatched. 

 Then the parent birds furnished such food as they 

 gathered from the fields and woods. 



The birds arrived on their northern migration about 

 the middle of March, and from that time nested every 

 four weeks until the month of June, which was their 

 last hatching. Two eggs were laid in each hatching. 

 Forty or more nests have been found on one beach 

 tree. The nests are composed of small sticks crossed 

 and recrossed on the small branches of the trees. One 

 would wonder how the birds managed to keep the eggs 

 in such a frail and open nest, as they could frequently 

 be seen through the sticks that composed the nest. 



During the night the female bird roosted nearby the 

 nest, waiting for the coming of the morning ; then she 

 would incubate the eggs or care for the young, and the 

 male take to roaming in search of food as already de- 

 scribed. 



After the nesting season closed in June the birds 

 would scatter about and wander in small flocks until 

 the latter part of October, then collect together in 

 larger flocks and start for the south and southwest. In 

 the early part of the fall or winter they stayed in 

 Arkansas or Missouri, then migrated to the Indian 

 Territory and Texas and still farther down into the 

 southern states, where they fed on wild rice. In the 

 spring flight birds have been caught within four miles 



