THE PASSENGER PIGEON. , 133 



and hunters in former years, are, like the immense herds of the American bison 

 which roamed over the great plains of the West in countless thousands but a 

 couple of decades ago, things of the past, probably never to be seen again. 



In fact, the extermination of the Passenger Pigeon has progressed so 

 rapidly during the past twenty years that it looks now as if their total 

 extermination might be accomplished within the present century. The only 

 thing wliicli retards their complete extinction is that it no longer pays to 

 net these birds, they being too scarce for this now, at least in the more 

 settled portions of the country, and also, perhaps, that from constant and 

 unremitting persecution on their breeding grounds tliey have changed their 

 habits somewhat, the majority no longer breeding in colonies, but scattering- 

 over the country and breeding in isolated pairs. 



Mr. William Brewster, in his article "On the Present Status of the Wild 

 Pigeon," etc., writes as follows: "In the spring of 1888 my friend. Captain 

 Bendire, wrote me that he had received news from a correspondent in cen- 

 tral Michigan to the effect that Wild Pigeons had arrived there in great 

 numbers and were preparing to nest. Acting on this information, I started 

 at once, in company with Mr. Jonathan Dwight, jr., to visit the expected 

 'nesting' and learn as much as possible about the habits of the breeding 

 birds, as well as to secure specimens of their skins and eggs. 



"On reaching Cadillac, Michigan, May 8, we found that large flocks of 

 Pigeons had passed there late in April, while there were reports of similar 

 flights from almost every county in the southern part of the State. Although 

 most of the birds had passed on before our arrival, the professional Pigeon 

 netters, confident that they would finally breed somewhere in the southern 

 peninsula, were busily engaged getting their nets and other apparatus in 

 order for an extensive campaign against the poor birds. 



"We were assured that as soon as the breeding colony became estab- 

 lished the fact would be known all over the State, and there would be no 

 difficulty in ascertaining its precise location. Accordingly, we waited at 

 Cacfillac about two weeks, during which 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. As a last hope, we went, on May 15, to Oden, in the 

 northern part of the southern peninsula, about 20 miles south of the Straits 

 of Mackinac. Here we found that there had been, as elsewhere in Michi- 

 gan, a heavy flight of birds in the latter part of April, but that all passed 

 on. Thus our trip proved a failure as far as actually seeing a Pigeon 'nest- 

 ing' was concerned; but partly by obsei'vation, partly by talking with the 

 netters, fai-mers, sportsmen, and lumbermen, we obtained much information 

 regarding the flight of 1888, and the larger nestings that have occurred in 

 Michigan within the past decade, as well as many interesting details, some 

 of which appear to be new •^linnt the habits of the birds. 



