FATE OF THE PASSENGER PIGEON. 37 



Fate of the Passenger Pigeon. 



To him who knows the story of the passenger pigeon, says a 

 writer in the A^ezu Vork Post, this group of beautiful, grajdsh brown 

 birds with the irridescent golden sheen upon their throats is the 

 last word of a tragedj^ of animal life. America was once the land 

 of the wild pigeon. Early American writers are full of references 

 to it. Alexander Wilson, the father of American ornithology, es- 

 timated that a flock seen by him in 1808 contained over 2,000,000 

 individuals. It stretched from the horizon to the horizon, as far 

 as the eye could see, and was over four hours in passing a given 

 point. He saw a nesting colony 40 miles long and several miles in 

 width. 



In 1805 Audubon saw schooners at the wharfs in New York load- 

 ed not in packages, but in bulk, with wild pigeons caught up the 

 Hudson river and sold for a cent apiece. Up to i860 the bird con- 

 tinued fairly abundant. Then a frightful slaughter began, to sup- 

 ply an increased food demand. Gun, pole, club, net and sulphur 

 pot were employed. Thirty dozen birds were captured at one 

 spring of the net. One man netted 500 dozen in one day. In the 

 nesting season trees were shaken or felled and wagon loads of 

 squabs taken nightly, droves of hogs being turned in to utilize 

 what the " hunters " had left. Wherever the distracted flocks ap- 

 peared the slaughter began. At the last known large pigeon " nest- 

 ing," in 1878, a billion birds were killed diiring the season. Like 

 the bison, it was practically exterminated, showing the terrible 

 efl&ciency of man when he sets out systematicallj' in pursuit of a 

 lower species. 



The " century plant " was so named because of the popular notion 

 that it blooms ouly once in 100 years, but it need hardly be said 

 that this idea is erroneous. In the genial climate of California, 

 says a writer in the Scientific Ametican, the plant blooms in from 

 fifteen to twenty years, but in colder climates from forty to fifty 

 years may be necessary in order to bring it to maturity. This 

 plant is a native of northern Mexico, and there furntshes the 

 pulque which is the national drink of that country. When it be- 

 gins to bloom a single stalk is thrown up, from which tassel-like 

 flowers sprout forth on either side. The great flower stalk draws 

 all the sap and vigor from the broad leaves of the plant, which, 

 after it has reached its perfection, droops and dies. But at the 

 base of the fleshy leaves are found little suckers, each with a root, 

 which, when planted, at once begin to grow. 



