° 1911 J Wright, Early Records of the Passenger Pigeon. 3o7 



The final note in the seventeeth century comes in 1680 when 

 Hubbard says * that the "pigeons, (that come in multitudes every 

 summer, almost like the quayles that fell round the campe of 

 Israel in the wilderness,). . . .by nature's instinct, or by conduct 

 of Divine Providence, have found the way into these endes of the 



earth, " 



In the eighteenth century the first record is December 11, 1707, 

 when Samuel Sewall, in his Diary (1674-1729), observes that 2 

 "Yesterday I was told of a vast number of Pigeons in the Woods 

 this Moneth. Capt. Mills at his Sister's Wedding says he saw an 

 incredible Number at Woodstock last Friday." 



A considerable period intervenes before we come to the records 

 of Revs. Smith and Deane who, at Portland, Me., kept Diaries 

 from 1722-1787. Their entries follow: 3 



"1733. August Pigeons very plenty. We kill more than we 



can eat." 

 "1744, August 20. I don't remember that pigeons were ever 



so plenty as now." 

 "1744 August 28 Gunning after pidgeons, which increase 



in plenty. I brought home ten dozen in my chaise." 

 "1752 Sept. 2. I rode with. . . .to Marblehead (Windham) a 



pigeoning; we got near ten dozen." 

 "1759 Sept. 1. Abundance of pigeons." 

 In 1741 Oldmixon in his 'The British Empire in America,' etc. 

 (2nd edition, Vol. I, London, 1741, p. 1S6) merely states that 

 "Vast Flights of Pigeons come and go at certain Seasons of the 

 Year." But he is followed in 1755 by Douglass who gives a more 

 detailed account. 4 "The common food is mostly already men- 

 tioned, to these we may add. . . .wild (g) pigeons,. ..." In the 

 footnote (g) he adds: "Pahnnbus migratorius Catesby, Pafumbus 

 torquatus Aldrovand. The wild pigeon, pigeon of passage, or ring 



i Hubbard, W T illiam. General History of New England, 1680. Mass. Hist. 

 Soc. Coll., Second Series, Vol. V, 1817, p. 25. 



2 Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., Fifth Series, Vol. VI, p. 206. 



3 Smith. Rev. Thomas, and Deane, Rev. Samuel. Journals of the. By Wm. 

 Willis, Portland, Me., 1849, pp. 266, 269, 114, 149, 273. 



4 Douglass, William. A Summary, Historical and Political, of the First Plant- 

 ing, Progressive Improvements, and Present State of the British Settlements in 

 North-America. 2 vols., Boston, 1755. Vol. I, pp. 125, 126; Vol. II, pp. 217, 218. 



