78 Bird - Lore 



Appalachians, and the evergreen colonies, and belts of pine, hemlock, and 

 allied species growing in the region of the Great Lakes and the basin of the 

 St. Lawrence. 



While most wild crops become available from the moment they are ripe, 

 some plants, chiefly the shrubs, vines, and bushes cure their fruit and hold 

 it for future delivery. The trees of mixed forests, on the other hand, with the 

 exception of the hemlock, seed in alternate seasons, a beech-nut year follow- 

 ing an acorn year in regular order. At all times, therefore, and in every part 

 of its immense territory, did the forest provide enormous stores of provender 

 readily accessible and perpetually renewed. 



In this land of plenty, one of the host of creatures fed by the bounty of 

 the forest primeval, lived the Passenger Pigeon, which, by the migration 

 of its countless flocks and its striking habits, deeply stirred the sluggish curi- 

 osity of the first settlers. To their random notes and the later and more ample 

 reports of our earlier travelers and naturalists we are indebted for most of the 

 knowledge we possess of this best known and famed member of our avian 

 fauna. 



Built for speed and action, the Pigeon outstripped every bird of its size 

 in swiftness of flight. Competent observers agree that the bird flew at the 

 rate of a mile a minute, or 88 feet per second, a speed greater by far than that 

 of its celebrated cousin, the Carrier Pigeon, one of which averaged fifty-two 

 feet per second for a continuous flight of five hundred and ninety-one miles. 



Destitute of natural weapons, and of a timid disposition, our bird was 

 well protected from famine and pursuit by its swiftness. Social to an extraor- 

 dinary degree, it not only nested and traveled together, as gregarious birds do 

 at certain seasons, but it fed and slept in flocks throughout the year. So 

 long as its wild homeland remained undisturbed, this habit proved of obvious 

 advantage; but, with the gradual removal of the primeval forest, it became 

 a positive detriment, preparing the way for ultimate extinction. 



Since an actual study of the Passenger Pigeon in the field is no longer 

 possible, information concerning its distribution and habits must be sought 

 for in the records of former generations, and obtained from those yet living 

 who knew the bird in its prime. Imperfect as this material is and difficult to 

 procure, the recent revival of interest in its tragic fate has brought to light 

 sufficient data to trace the life history of the race, and to fathom the causes 

 which brought about its sudden and mysterious disappearance from the world 

 of the living. 



The habitat of the Pigeon, embracing as it did the vast native forest of 

 eastern North America, offered the bird a choice of food and residence, definite 

 regions thereof being occupied in proper season and in regular rotation. Even 

 the fruits of the lowly herbs contributed to its bill of fare, and the handsome 

 poke-weed is locally known as 'Pigeon' berry at the present day. But the 

 bulk of its food consisted of the acorns of the numerous species of oak, the 



