134 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



"Om- principal informant was Mr. S. S. Stevens, of Cadillac, a veteran 

 Pigeon netter of large experience, and, as we were assured by everyone whom 

 we asked concerning him, a man of liigh reputation for veracity and careful- 

 ness of statement. His testimony was as follows: 'Pigeons appeared that 

 year in numbers near Cadillac, about the 20th of April. He saw fully sixty 

 in one day, scattered about in beech woods near the head of Clam Lake, and 

 on another occasion about one hundred drinking at the mouth of the brook, 

 while a flock that covered at least 8 acres was observed by a friend, a per- 

 fectly reliable man, flying in a northeastly direction. Many other smaller 

 flocks were reported.' 



"The last nesting of any importance in Michigan was in 1881, a few 

 miles west of Grand Traverse. It was ordy of moderate size, perhaps 8 miles 

 long. Subsequently, in 1886, Mr. Stevens found about fifty dozen pairs nest- 

 ing in a swamp near Lake City. He does not doubt that similar small colonies 

 occur every year, besides scattered pairs. In fact, he sees a few Pigeons 

 about Cadillac every summer, and in the early autumn young birds, barely 

 able to fly, are often met with singly or in small parties in the woods. Such 

 stragglers attract little attention, and no one attempts to net them, although 

 many are shot. 



"The largest nesting he ever visited was in 1876 or 1877. It began 

 near Petosky, and extended northeast past Crooked Lake for 28 miles, aver- 

 aging 3 or 4 miles wide. The birds arrived in two separate bodies, one 

 directly from the south by land, the other following the east coast of Wis- 

 consin, and crossing at Manitou Island. He saw the latter body come in from 

 the lake at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. It was a compact mass of 

 Pigeons, at least 5 miles long by 1 mile wide. The birds began bviilding 

 when the snow was 12 inches deep in the woods, although the fields were 

 bare at the time. So rapidly did the colony extend its boundaries that it 

 soon passed literally over and around the place where he was netting, although 

 when he began, this point was several miles from the nearest nest. Nestings 

 usually start in deciduous woods, but during their progress the Pigeons do* not 

 skip any kind of trees they encounter. The Petosky nesting extended 8 miles 

 through hardwood timber, then crossed a river bottom wooded with arbor- 

 vitse, and thence stretched through white jiine woods about 20 miles. For 

 the entire distance of 28 miles every tree of any size had more or less nests, 

 and many trees were filled with them. None were lower than about 15 feet 

 above the ground. 



"Pigeons are very noisy when building. They make a sound resembling 

 the croaking of wood frogs. Their combined clamor can be heard 4 or 5 

 miles away when the atmospheric conditions are favorable. Two eggs are 

 usually laid, but many nests contain only one. Both birds incubate, the 

 females "between 2 o'clock p. m. and 9 or 10 o'clock the next morning; the 

 males from 9 or 10 o'clock a. m. to 2 o'clock p.m. The males feed twice 

 each day, namely, from daylight to about 8 o'clock a. m., and again late in 



