^*^1908^^] T)¥jA1^k, The Passenger Pigeon in Confinement. 183 



probably of tuberculosis. In a letter from Mr. \Yiedring under 

 date of Feb. 13, 1908, he informs me that the pigeons have been 

 in good condition since my, visit the previous October, and that in 

 about a month the birds will begin to get very restless, which is 

 ascribed to the approaching breeding season. 



For years we have known of the Passenger Pigeons in the Gardens 

 of the Cincinnati Zoological Co., and I am much indebted to Mr. 

 S. A. Stephan, General Manager, for the following report of their 

 flock, in a letter written November 9, 1907. 



"The original flock, which came from Michigan in 1875, consisted 

 of twenty-six birds, about half males and half females. A short 

 time later, however, five or six of these escaped. They have bred 

 from time to time and we have raised about twenty-three birds. In 

 no instance has more than one egg been deposited at a time. At 

 the present time our flock has been reduced to three, one male from 

 the original flock, now about twenty-three years old, one male, 

 which we raised, is about eighteen years old, and one female that 

 we obtained from Prof. Whitman's flock in 1902, which is about 

 twelve years old. We have never detected any particular disease 

 which has caused the decrease of the flock, but have attributed it 

 in most cases to old age." 



The remnants of the Milwaukee and Cincinnati flocks now 

 number but seven birds (6 6^, 1 ? ) with little or no chance of any 

 further reproduction. 



As a sufficient time has now passed since there has been an undis- 

 puted record of a flock, or even a single bird, having been seen, those 

 who have given this subject much attention, are forced to believe 

 that this noble bird, in its wild state, is now extinct. Every little 

 while reports appear in the press or sporting papers, that our Wild 

 Pigeon has again been seen, but we have no specimen or facts to 

 verify the record. How many times have I run down some of these 

 reports, only to find them to be cases of either mistaken identity 

 — Turtle Doves — or humbugs. It is hard to believe that this bird, 

 which within a comparatively short time traversed the country in 

 countless numbers, has been wiped oft' the face of the earth through 

 the agency of man, yet when we read the mass of evidence which 

 Mr. W. B. Mershon has brought together in 'The Passenger 

 Pigeon,' of the wholesale slaughter which has been going on for 

 so many years, we stop and wonder. 



