286 BREWSTER on the Present Status of the Wild Pigeon. [October 
time we were in correspondence with netters in different parts of 
the region. No news came, however, and one by one the netters 
lost heart, until finally most of them agreed that the Pigeons had 
gone to the far North beyond the reach of mail and telegraphic 
communication. Asa last hope, we went, on May 15, to Oden, 
in the northern part of the southern peninsula, about twenty miles 
south of the Straitsof Mackinac. Here we found that there had 
been, as elsewhere in Michigan, a heavy flight of birds in the latter 
part of April, but that all had passed on. Thus our trip proved 
a failure as far as actually seeing a Pigeon ‘nesting’ was concerned ; 
but, partly by observation, partly by talking with the netters, 
farmers, sportsmen, and lumbermen, we obtained much informa- 
tion regarding the flight of 1888 and the larger nestings that have 
occurred in Michigan within the past decade, as well as many in- 
teresting details, some of which appear to be new, about the habits 
of the birds. 
Our principal informant was Mr. S. S. Stevens of Cadillac, a 
veteran Pigeon netter of large experience and, as we were assured 
by every one whom we asked concerning him, a man of high 
reputation for veracity and carefulness of statement. Mr. Stevens’s 
testimony was as follows: 
Pigeons appeared that year in numbers near Cadillac, about the 
20th of April. He saw fully sixty in one day scattered about in ~ 
beech woods near the head of Clam Lake, and, on another 
occasion, about one hundred drinking at the mouth of a brook, 
while a flock that covered at least eight acres was observed by 
a friend, a perfectly reliable man, flying in a northeasterly 
direction. Many other smaller flocks were reported. 
The last nesting in Michigan of any importance was in 1881, 
a few miles west of Grand Traverse. It was of only 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 similiar 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 
