PASSENGER PIGEONS 2141 



There can be little doubt that the vast numbers of this pigeon have greatly 

 diminished during recent years, and though at present by no means on the verge of 

 extinction, it seems certain that unless laws be made for its protection its exter- 

 mination is only a matter of time. Mr. Brewster writes that in Michigan ' ' we 

 found that large flocks of pigeons had passed there late in April, while there were 

 reports of similar flights from almost every country in the southern part of the 

 State. Although most of the birds had passed on before our arrival, the profes- 

 sional pigeon netters, confident that they would finally breed somewhere in the 

 southern peninsula, were busily engaged getting their nets and other apparatus in 

 order for an extensive campaign against the birds. Our principal informant said 

 that the last nesting of any importance in Michigan was in 1881, a few miles west 

 of the Grand Traverse. It was only of moderate size, perhaps eight miles long. 

 Subsequently, in 1886, Mr. Stevens found about fifty dozen pairs nesting in a 

 swamp near Lake City. He does not doubt that similar small colonies occur every 

 year, besides scattered pairs. In fact he sees a few pigeons about Cadillac every 

 summer, and in the early autumn young birds barely able to fly, are often met with 

 singly or in small parties in the woods. Such stragglers attract little attention, and 

 no one attempts to net them, although many are shot. The largest nesting he ever 

 visited was in 1876 or 1877. It began near Petosky, and extended northeast past 

 Crooked Lake for twenty-eight miles, averaging three or four miles wide. The 

 birds arrived in two separate bodies, one directly from the south by land, the other 

 following the east coast of Wisconsin, and crossing at Maniton island. He saw the 

 latter bod3 T come in from the lake at about three o'clock in the afternoon. It was a 

 compact mass of pigeons, at least five miles long by one mile wide. The birds 

 began building when the snow was twelve inches deep in the woods, although the 

 fields were bare at the time. So rapidly did the colony extend its boundaries, that 

 it soon passed literally over and around the place where he was netting, although, 

 when he began, this point was several miles from the nearest nest. Nestings usu- 

 ally start in deciduous woods, but during their progress the pigeons do not skip 

 any kind of trees they encounter. The Petosky nesting extended eight miles 

 through hardwood timber, then crossed a river bottom wooded with arborvitse, and 

 thence stretched through white pine woods about twenty miles. For the entire dis- 

 tance of twenty-eight miles every tree of any size had more or less nests, and many 

 trees were filled with them. None were lower than about fifteen feet above the 

 ground. Pigeons are very noisy when building. They make a sound resembling 

 the croaking of wood frogs. Their combined clamor can be heard four or five miles 

 away when the atmospheric conditions are favorable. Two eggs are usually laid, 

 but many nests contain only one. Both birds incubate, the female between 2 

 o'clock P. M. and 9 or 10 o'clock the next morning, the males from 9 or 10 o'clock 

 A. M. to 2 o'clock p. M. The males feed twice each day, namely, from daylight to 

 about 8 o'clock A. M., and again late in the afternoon. The females feed only dur- 

 ing the forenoon." 



