192 



THE OOLOQIST 



combined clamor being heard for 

 three miles. This nesting covered 100,- 

 000 acres of land. 



The nest of the pigeon consisted of 

 a rickety platform of sticks. There 

 was only one egg in a nest, rarely 

 two. The eggs were white. The wild 

 pigeon (ectopistes migratorius) is 

 known as the passenger pigeon. The 

 birds remained for six weeks and dur- 

 ing that time an army of 1,000 men 

 waged a war of extermination against 

 them. Each day 14,000 birds were 

 shipped away by rail and an equal 

 number by water. More than 125,000 

 birds were shipped by netters. Thous- 

 sands of squabs died in their nests 

 and thousands of wounded and old 

 birds were left to die. The number 

 of birds slaughtered can never be es- 

 timated. From that time the pigeons 

 grew fewer in numbers as large flocks. 



The last big flock came to Petoskey 

 in the spring of 1888. A few isolated 

 pairs stopped to nest in that section, 

 but the great body crossed the Straits 

 of Mackinaw and disappeared in the 

 wilds of Canada. This was a great 

 disappointment to the old-time netters 

 who, concluding that the birds had re- 

 turned to their old haunts, got out 

 their nets and made preparation for 

 their slaughter. The pigeons never 

 returned. The disappearance of this 

 last great flock marked the passing 

 of the pigeon. 



Only One Wild Pigeon Left in the 

 United States. 

 One passenger pigeon ending her 

 life at the Zoological Garden in Cin- 

 cinnati, is all that remains of an Am- 

 erican species that early in the last 

 century swarmed over the continent 

 in flocks numbering billions, accord- 

 ing to reports received at the head- 

 quarters of the National Association 

 of the Audubon Societies in New York 

 City. _ . 



, With the death of this sole survivor 



of a bird tribe, whose nesting places 

 often covered hundreds of' square 

 miles, there will soon disappear the 

 last trace of the wild pigeons that 

 have been slaughtered by men who 

 fed their hogs upon the carcasses 

 they could not carry away. Though it 

 is too late to save this species, spe- 

 cial efforts are now being made by the 

 Audubon workers to bring about the 

 restoration of other birds of economic 

 value that must otherwise share the 

 same fate. 



For many months systematic search 

 has been made by officials of the Au- 

 dubon Association for relics of the 

 more prolific passenger pigeon. Mem- 

 iaers of the organization headed by 

 Prof. C. F. Dodge, of Clark Univer-. 

 sity, have made a standing offer of 

 $1,500 to any one discovering a nest 

 of this species; but, though thousands 

 have been trying eagerly for the prize 

 not one claimant has appeared. 



In response to an inquiry by T. 

 Gilbert Pearson, secretary of the Na- 

 tional Association of Audubon So- 

 cieties of the Cincinanti Zoo have just 

 furnished the last chapter in the 

 tragic tale of these butchered birds. 

 The "Last of the Passenger Pigeons" 

 is a female, 18 years old, whose mate 

 died recently without issue at the age 

 of 24. 



As late as 1877 what is now known 

 to have been the last nesting places 

 of these wild birds was found in the 

 state of Michigan, where their nests 

 thickly covered the trees over an 

 area 28 miles long and 4 miles wide. 

 Residents of New York City declare 

 that in 1850 they flocked over Manhat- 

 tan Island in such numbers that they 

 obscured the sun and that ships load- 

 ed in bulk with the bodies of these 

 birds lay at the wharves selling them 

 at a cent apiece. 



Audubon is quoted as observing a 

 roosting place of wild pigeons in Ken- 



