178 



THE OOLOGIST 



The Last of the Passenger Pigeon. 

 While on a trip in Ohio I had. the 

 pleasure to visit the Zoo at Cincinnati, 

 en August 19, 1914, and there saw the 

 last of the race of the Passenger 

 Pigeon. It is a female and she is dy- 

 ing slowly of old age. Death was but 

 a question of a few days and when she 

 passes into the realm of the unknown 

 there will be none to survive her. She 

 was at that time unable to sit on her 

 perch and was on the bottom of her 

 cage with her wings drooping, and 

 was very weak and feeble. She is 29 

 years old, a ripe old age for a bird of 

 this kind. Superintendent Sol Ste- 

 phan said that four pairs of Passeng- 

 er Pigeons were inmates of the Zoo in 

 1877. The young came and at one 

 time there were thirteen there and the 

 surviving one among them and the 

 little flock seemed prosperous but as 

 years went by one after another died. 

 The last male bird died four years ago. 

 Then an effort was made to find a 

 new mate for the surviving female but 

 none could be found. Mr. Stephan said 

 that for four years a reward of $1,000 

 has been hanging up for the produc- 

 tion of a mate but there was none 

 forthcoming. Mr. Stephan said that 

 when she died her body would be sent 

 to the Smithsonian Institute. Re- 

 markable is the fact that the race of 

 the Passenger Pigeon has been cut 

 down from millions to a single bird 

 within the memory of the present 

 generation. In August, 1896, I shot a 

 female which I saw light in a walnut 

 grove near San Jose, 111., which I 

 mounted and have in my collection. 

 This was the last live Passenger 

 Pigeon which I have seen in Illinois. 



O. S. Biggs. 

 San Jose, 111. 



We have seen this bird, which has 

 since died — a number of times, both 

 before and. after the death of the 



others mentioned as being in this Zoo 

 with her. Here is what one of the 

 most influential of the Illinois papers 

 has to say on this subject: 



THE LAST WILD PIGEON. 



Announcement is made of the death 

 in the Cincinnati zoo of the last wild 

 pigeon in the known world. For some 

 years past a standing reward of $1,500 

 has been offered by the members of 

 the National Audubon Society for a 

 living mate for this captive bird but 

 no response has been received. A sim- 

 ilar reward was offered by an orni- 

 thological society of New York to any 

 one in the United States who would 

 discover a wild pigeon nest but noth- 

 ing came of it. It is assumed that the 

 species is now wholly extinct on the 

 American continent and on the face of 

 the earth. 



There is a touch of sadness in this 

 announcement to those who still re- 

 member the millions of these beautiful 

 birds that used to sweep in migratory 

 flight across this country. Every man 

 who was a boy in those days can still 

 picture to himself the long extended 

 and graceful lines in which they 

 moved, column after column, in rapid 

 succession, for hours and even days. 



And there is also a touch of indig- 

 nation against the ruthless pothunters 

 who have worked this destruction. In 

 many instances it has been a destruc- 

 tion of these birds, not for the use of 

 their flesh on the table, but a destruc- 

 tion for the mere sake of destruction 

 — wanton and brutal to a degree. And 

 yet with this object lesson before us 

 there are pothunters in this country 

 today — some of them here in Illinois — 

 who are trying to have the courts in- 

 validate a recent law of congress for 

 the protection of the migratory birds. 

 They have hunted the wild quail and 

 prairie chicken to their last hiding 

 place and if allowed their way would 

 put the wild goose and wild duck in 



