°i8q6 j Deane, The Passenger Pigeon in Confinement. -3S 



value and interest, not only in regard to his pet birds, but also 

 about his large experience with the Wild Pigeon in its native 

 haunts ; for being a keen observer of nature, and having been a 

 prospector for many years among the timber and mining regions 

 of Wisconsin, Michigan and Canada, his opportunities for obser- 

 vation have been extensive. In the fall of 1888, Mr. Whittaker 

 received from a young Indian two pairs of Pigeons, one of adults 

 and the other quite young. They were trapped near Lake Shawano, 

 in Shawano County in northeastern Wisconsin. 



Shortly after being confined, one of the old birds scalped itself by 

 flying against the wire netting, and died — the other one escaped. 

 The young pair were, with much care and watching, successfully 

 raised, and from these the flock has increased to its present 

 number, six males and nine females. The enclosure, which is 

 not large, is built behind and adjoining the house, situated on a 

 high bluff overlooking the Milwaukee River. It is built of wire 

 netting, and enclosed on the top and two sides with glass. 

 There is but slight protection from the cold and the Pigeons 

 thrive in zero weather as well as in summer. A few branches and 

 poles are used for roosting, and two shelves, about one foot wide 

 and partitioned off, though not enclosed, are where the nests are 

 built and the young are raised. It was several years before Mr. 

 Whittaker successfully raised the young, but by patient experi- 

 menting with various kinds of food, he has been rewarded. The 

 destruction of the nest and egg, at times by the female, more often 

 by others of the flock, and the killing of the young birds, after 

 they leave the nest, by the old males, explains in part the slow 

 increase in the flock. When the Pigeons show signs of nesting, 

 small twigs are thrown on to the bottom of the enclosure, and 

 on the day of our visit, I was so fortunate as to watch the opera- 

 tions of nest building. There were three pairs actively engaged. 

 The females remained on the shelf, and at a given signal which 

 they only uttered for this purpose, the males would select a twig 

 or straw, and in one instance a feather and fly up to the nest, 

 drop it and return to the ground, while the females placed the 

 building material in position and then called for more. In all 

 of Mr. Whittaker's experience with this flock he has never 

 known of more than one egg being deposited. Audubon in his 



