'I HE OOLOGIST. 



113 



broke and overflowed a village, and not 

 only that, but stuck together three hun- 

 dred cedar trees. The famed Hintzil- 

 opochtli, a Mexican deity, was thought 

 to be changed into a Hummingbird. 



The Zulus attribute thunder to the 

 "thunder bird," while there have been 

 many minor superstitions, some of 

 which were so common that they were 

 not recorded by the ancient writers, 

 the above will give the reader some idea 

 of them. 



D. T. Kiss am, 

 Brooklyn, N. Y. 



Band-tailed Pigeon. 

 Columbidce fasciata. 



The range of this species of the family 

 Columbidce is the entire Pacific coast 

 region of North America. Their time 

 of arrival in this locality is in May, 

 when they put in an appearance in 

 flocks numbering from a dozen up to 

 hundreds, but in the past few years it 

 has been rare to see large numbers to- 

 gether. 



They seem to be diminishing in num- 

 bers, as less and less, seem to frequent 

 their usual haunts each year, and per- 

 haps the day is not far distant, when 

 they will have disappeared, as did the 

 Pigeons, (Eclapisies migratorius) which 

 were so abundant in New York and 

 Pennsylvania, only fifteen years ago. 

 Now one hardly sees a pair, where then 

 they could be found by the thousands. 

 Where have they gone? 



True many were killed, but not all. 

 Have they found new fields, not yet 

 found by our naturalists, where they 

 breed in peace? 



And so L is with the Band-tailed Pig- 

 eon of this coast. Five years ago, the 

 farmers tell me, that this species was so 

 abundant in this vicinity, as to be de- 

 structive to the grain. 



That at early morning and evening 

 the air seemed fairly black with them 



as they flew back and forth from their 

 feeding ground to their roosts. 

 Now they have dwindled down so that 

 where thousands visited this locality 

 then, only a few flocks of fifty or one 

 hundred each are seen now. 



What is the cause for this? They 

 have not been slaughtered here, like 

 those of the Eastern States were. 



Tjey seem to be receeding back in 

 the mountainous districts, and higher 

 altitudes, and perhaps this is why we 

 see less of them. 



In my observations I find that they 

 prefer the higher altitudes. The foot 

 hills of the Cascade range and up to an 

 elevation of 2000 to 3000 feet seem to be 

 their favored localities. 



Generally preferring to follow up some 

 river or creek. 



The localities especially frequented 

 are the Mineral Springs, which exist in 

 this range. 



The waters of these springs contain 

 soda, iron, sulphur, salt and a few less- 

 er elements, and are generally known 

 as Soda Springs. Several such springs 

 exist within the town limits of this place 

 (Sodaville) from which it receives its 

 name. 



Some element in these waters attract 

 the Pigeons in large numbers, and they 

 can be seen at all times of the day, fly- 

 ing to and from these springs and visit- 

 ing adjoining springs. 



The time they remain at the spring is 

 generally short, ten or fifteen minutes, 

 but they visit them many times during 

 the day. 



What properties it is in these waters 

 which they fancy I have not been able 

 to determine definitely, but as their 

 principal element is gen rally soda, I 

 judge it is this which they are after. 

 However they visit these springs in 

 large numbers, and at all times of the 

 day. 



Many hunters take advantage of these 

 their favored haunts and stationing 

 themselves at the various springs in a 



