iSqi-I Gci/crdl No/r<:. 3II 



Such testimony being contrary to the published experience of ornithol- 

 ogists, I wrote Mr. Cope to discover by a few leading queries whether his 

 identification of the species was correct. His answers were highly satisfac- 

 tory, showing that he was not only an admirer of nature but an accurate 

 and intelligent observer. I forwarded his letter to Mr. Brewster, with 

 whom I had previously had some correspondence on the same supject, 

 and he expressed his belief that the evidence presented was unmistakably 

 genuine and worthy of immediate publication. During the spring of 

 18S7, in company with his son, Mr. Cope travelled extensively through 

 the West — "straggling be3'ond the plains into California, Oregon, West- 

 ern Washington, and Vancouvers' Island" — where, he sa^'s, "I saw ami 

 heard more Wild Pigeons {Eciopisfrs) than I remembei" to have ever met 

 with in any other place." The locality where mostofthe Pigeons were ob- 

 served was on an extensive plain in Pierce Count}-, Washington, fifteen 

 iniles east of Puget's Sound, between the Sound and the Cascade 

 mountains. 



This fertile plain was "dotted over with clumps of pine and fir trees, in 

 many instances bent down by flocks of Wild Pigeons that feasted on the 

 strawberries which in some j)laces were so abundant as to give the sward 

 a scarlet tinge." These flocks numbered several hundreds in each, ami 

 during the short time spent there (a few days) plainly showed they were 

 but "transitoi'v visitants" passing northward and unlikely to breed in that 

 vicinity. 



It is difficult to account for this (so far as known) unprecedented occur- 

 rence of a well-known bird in such numbers in a region where hitherto it 

 had been seen only as a rare straggler. 



Taking into account the power of flight and wandering nature of the 

 Passenger Pigeon and coupling this with the persecution it has been sub- 

 jected to during the nesting season, we might naturally expect a change 

 of habitat, but even the most heterodox would scarce!}- conceive ofa sudden 

 and united movement across a thousand miles of uiiknown territory and 

 two ranges of lofty mountains for the sole purpose of establishing a new 

 route of operations in more peaceful territory. If this was the actual 

 state of affairs in 1877 and has continued to be, the A. O. U. may well 

 look to its laurels. But this is scarcely possible. The region described 

 has been frequently traversed by naturalists and other? who would appre- 

 ciate and report such an unusual occurrence if repeated year after year. 

 Every bird lover would rejoice to hear that this wonderful bird had finally 

 outwitted its great persecutor and lengthened its lease on life by 'going 

 West' in the true American spirit of liberty; and it is fitting that we use 

 every effort to protect and foster a movement so unprecedented. But a 

 study of the past history of Ecfopisfcs should prepare us for these appar- 

 ently startling disclosures. There is no American bird of strictly grega- 

 rious and migratory habits that is found breeding over so great an area- — 

 viz., from Mexico to Hudson's Bay and British Columbia, and from the 

 Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains. 



