23 

 Township. Farmers tell me that they frequently see the 

 young, escorted by the parent, feeding in the open fields 

 near the woods. 



315. Ectopistes migratorius ( Linn ,) . Passenger Pigeon. 



Years ago the Wild Pigeon nested in great numbers 

 in many of the counties of the state, hut particularly so 

 along the northern tier. Now they are all gone, followers 

 of the Great Auk down the path to extinction, driven by the 

 ruthless hand of man. According to Dr. Warren (Birds of 

 Pennsylvania), a few pairs still breed in Luzerne County 

 as late as 1889, and Mr. Erank L. Burns (Wilson Bulletin, 

 March 1910) records a probable nest and one egg taken in 

 Lancaster County in 1889. Prior to 1880, the Pigeon nested 

 in great numbers in Potter, McKean, Cameron, Elk, Forest, 

 and Warren Counties, as well as less common in Crawford 

 and Erie Counties (Warren). Dr. Warren quotes Mr. Otto 

 Behr as follows:- "The last pigeon roost was here in 1869. 



They say the nesting ground, which was along the 



Mehoopany Creek, Wyoming County, four miles from here, was 

 seven miles long by two or three wide. In 1876, they 

 started to build again, when a snow storm drove them off." 



