^°^"l^i'o^^^] -■^- H. Wright, Earlij Records of the Passenger Pigeon. 441 



Point abounds with game of various kinds .... Immense flocks 

 of the passenger or wild pigeon, frequent this and other parts of 

 Upper Canada during the spring and autumn; and myriads of 

 them are killed by firearms, or caught in nets by the inhabitants; 

 for they fly so close, and in such numbers, that twenty or thirty 

 may sometimes be brought down at a single shot." 



In 1827 John Lee Williams in "A View of West Florida" (p. 

 30) gives the " Pigeon — - Columha migratoria" — as " rare ". Again, 

 in 1837, in "The Territory of Florida, etc. New York. 1837" 

 (p. 74) he says, "This kind is not so numerous in general, as the 

 turtle dove, and ground dove." 



A more or less extended characterization of the species comes 

 in 1829, when Macauley wrote ^ the following summary: "The 

 pigeon is a migratory bird. In spring they pass to the north, 

 where they spend the summer, and in autumn they return to the 

 south, where they spend the winter. The periods of their arrival 

 and departure are not well defined. Sometimes they come as 

 early as the latter part of March, while at other times, a month 

 later. This seems to depend on the season, their arrival being 

 earlier or later, according to the forwardness or backwardness of 

 the spring. They pass in their periodical migrations, in flocks, 

 which vary greatly in numbers. Some extend a mile or two in 

 length, and consist of a countless multitude, while others are 

 small. The flocks are often seen following each other in ciuick 

 succession, and at short intervals. These migrations frequently 

 continue for several days. After their arrival, they remain in 

 flocks, for a short time, and then disperse in pairs in order to breed. 

 They build their nests on trees, and usually have two young at a 

 time. The}' hatch every month. They subsist on mast, wheat, 

 peas, oats, rye, and insects. . . .They are rather smaller than the 

 domestic pigeon, and are good food. The domestic and wild 

 pigeon do not breed together. The accounts which are given of 

 the number of pigeons in the uncultivated country, will appear 

 almost incredible to those who have never seen their nests. Some- 

 times they occupy several hundred acres with their nests. Twenty, 

 and even thirty nests have been counted on one tree." 



■ Macaiiley, James. The Natural, Statistical and Civil History of the State 

 of New York. New York, 1829. 3 vols. Vol. I. pp. 495, 496. 



