226 THE PASSENGER PIGEON IN PENNSYLVANIA 



the loosely made nests, when placed on low branches. 

 Nests on high limbs of tall trees looked not unlike 

 black patches of moss and a certain species of dark- 

 colored fungus which often grows on the beech and 

 some other trees of the forest. A row of nests was 

 sometimes to be seen on a single limb. Each pair 

 of pigeons had a nest. The old birds, as well as 

 their young, appeared to live in harmony. 



Made Their Young Hustle 



"The young pigeons in the nests were so scantily 

 fed by the parents, that they were mere skeletons, 

 and as soon as the youngsters were able to fly a 

 a short distance, the old birds crowded and drove them 

 from the nests, from which they would fly to the 

 ground in a heavy and labored manner. In falling 

 and flying to the earth, many of the young were killed. 

 Those which reached the ground uninjured, were 

 hungry, and they would pick at the ends of bushes, 

 leaves and almost anything in sight. They soon 

 found beechnuts on the ground, and then they had an 

 abundance of food. These young pigeons fed day 

 after day, and extended the feeding ground over a 

 large area of the beech woods. The old pigeons would 

 not take beechnuts or other food, either for themselves 

 or young within -a radius of at least twenty miles of 

 their nesting places. In July and August, the adults 

 and young fed on huckleberries. I have often shot 

 pigeons with plumage soiled by juices of this fruit. 



