Mr. Charles A. Boultbee, of Mac- 

 gregor, Man., replies as follows: 



I have resided in Manitoba since 

 1872 and have taken pigeons as far 

 north as Fort Pelly in the fall of 1874, 

 but know nothing of them previously. 

 In our district they usually made their 



ppearance in the fall and fed upon 



he grain. I never found them nor 

 lid I ever hear of them breeding in 

 the province in any numbers. 



"They continued fairly numerous un- 

 til about 1882, at which time we had 

 to drive them from the grain stocks, 

 but they then disappeared and only 

 stragglers have been noted since." 



"None of the flocks noted in Mani- 

 toba in any way approached those 

 recorded for the east and south for 

 numbers." 



There is no doubt that many other 

 reports could have been secured, but 

 as all seem to tend toward the one 

 conclusion, I shall save time and 

 space by summarizing that informa- 

 tion at hand. 



Some months ago I made a state- 

 ment in an article written for locul 

 interest to the effect that Manitoba 

 never was the home of the wild 

 pigeon. By this I meant that be- 

 cause of unfavorable breeding and 

 feeding conditions within the pro- 

 vince, only the smallest percentage 

 of the enormous flocks recorded for 

 the south and east could possibly ex- 

 ist here. The records here collected 

 support me in this contention so far 

 as that portion of the province west 

 of the Red River is concerned, but 

 the record of Sir John Richardson 

 tends to show that favorable condi- 

 tions must have existed immediately 

 south of Lake Winnipeg, througn 

 what he calls a low lying district, 

 and where we can assume the cran- 

 berry and blueberry were abundant, 

 as they were through the district sub- 

 sequently reported by Mr. McLean to 

 the east and north-east of this dis- 

 trict. There is no doubt that the 

 difference in the character of the 

 country east of the Red River from 

 that of the west would present more 

 favorable conditions for the birds, but 

 with all it has not in one case been 

 shown that the birds nested in colo- 

 nies approaching the size of the 

 famous eastern and southern roosts, 

 and reports seem rather to show that 

 those which bred within the province 

 were more generally scattered ov?r 

 the country, at the same time being 

 numerous enough to guarantee the 

 shooter and the netter to pursue a 

 profitable traffic in the birds. All 

 evidence seems to show that large 

 , numbers passed through the province 

 to and from a northern breeding 



ground possibly that recorded by 

 Hutchens near Hudson Bay and west- 

 ward, and that they were excessively 

 numerous up to about 1870, when 

 they began to decrease. This decline 

 continued until the .middle eighties, 

 when they were practically all gone, 

 and with the exception of a few 

 stragglers none have been seen since 

 while as to the latest authenticated 

 records, I quote from notes in my 

 former pamphlet on " Rare Bird Re- 

 cords ": 



" The beautiful specimen I have 

 been able to secure for illustration 

 herewith is loaned me by Mr. Dan 

 Smith, of Winnipeg, who shot it in 

 St. Boniface, south-east of the cathe- 

 dral, in the fall of 1893, and so far as 

 I have been able to discover is the 

 last authentic record for the vicinity 

 of Winnipeg, while the only specimen 

 I was eve<r privileged to handle in 

 the flesh in Manitoba was collected 

 at Winnipegosis on April 10, 189(5, 

 and sent me to be mounted. It was 

 a male specimen in the pink of con- 

 dition in every way. No other speci- 

 men was noted with it, and no au- 

 thentic records have been made in 

 Manitoba since then." I have since 

 that time expended much effort In 

 following up rumors of the bird's 

 presence in various districts with a 

 view to locating a breeding pair. Not 

 alone have my desires been to secure 

 and preserve a skin or mounted speci- 

 men, but with the possibility of lo- 

 cating a breeding bird and securing 

 the bird alive or securing the eggs 

 while fresh to assist in the salvation 

 of the pigeon in a partially domesti- 

 cated state, since the only specimens 

 now living in captivity are tho.^e 

 owned by Prof. Whitman, of the 

 University of Chicago, who, in writing 

 me, says: " My stock seems to have 

 come to a complete standstill, hav- 

 ing raised no young for the last four 

 years. The weakness is due to long 

 inbreeding, as my birds are from a 

 single pair captured about 25 years 

 ago in Wisconsin. I have long tried 

 to secure new stock, but have been 

 unsuccessful. A single pair would 

 enable me to save them, for they 

 breed well in confinement. 



" I have crossed them with ring- 

 doves, and still have three hybrids 

 but as these are infertile there is no 

 hope of even preserving these hair- 

 breeds alive. Of all the wild pigeons 

 in the world the passenger pigeon 'H 

 my favorite. No other pigeon com- 

 bines so many fine qualities in iorm, 

 color, strength and perfection or 1 

 wing power." 



I am enabled, through the kindness 

 of Prof. Whitman, to exhibit a photo- 

 graph of one of his younger birds 

 taken in this aviary at Chicago. 



