94 PROCEEDiNGvS manch]3ste;r institute 



In the crops of different birds I have found, in early fall, bits of 

 leaves oi Aspiduim spimdosum, Popuhts grandidentata, and fruit 

 of the snowberry {Chiooeiies), blueberry ( Vacciniiun) and white 

 baneberry {Acttsa). The birds delight to wallow in fine, dry 

 dust in sunny spots in the woods, and hence are often met with 

 along trails, where the sun can reach and dry the ground. 

 Mr. VyronD. I^ovve, of Randolph, writes me that while crossing 

 the Presidential Range in the latter part of winter, in 1900, he 

 found two of these birds frozen to death, away up among the 

 scrub, where, on account of the thick crust, they were unable 

 to burrow into the snow at night. This fact is of interest as 

 showing that they migrate but little from these upper levels, 

 even in the winter season. 



97. Meleag-ris gallopavo f era (Vieill.). W11.D Tur- 

 key. 



F'ormerly a common permament resident in the southern part 

 of the state, but long since extirpated. Dr. Jeremy Belknap 

 (1792, vol. Ill, p. 170) writing of the birds of this state, says 

 they " were formerly very numerous. In winter they frequent- 

 ed the sea shore, for the sake of picking small fishes and ma- 

 rine insects, which the tide leaves on the flats. * * * They are 

 now retired to the inland mountainous country. ' ' Evidently the 

 birds were nearly extirpated by the early part of the nineteenth 

 century, though Dr. Samuel Cabot ('44, p. 80) states that he 

 "purchased one in the Boston Market, brought from New 

 Hampshire," so late as 1841 or '42. 



98. Ectopistes inigTatoriiis (lyinn.). Passenger 

 Pigeon. 



Formerlj' a summer resident of great local abundance, but 

 now practically extirpated. 



Arriving within Our borders during the first week of April 

 in tremendous flocks, they nested in large colonies, at least as 

 far north as the White Mountains proper. E. D. Sanborn, in 

 his Hi.story of New Hampshire ('75, p. 159) states that at about 

 1780, in northern New Hampshire, the air was "black with 

 flocks of pigeons, which were caught in immense numbers, and 

 their meat dried for winter use. The feathers were used 



