226 THE IMPORTANCE OF BIRD LIFE 



So great was the resulting slaughter of the last 

 two species that both finally succumbed. The 

 heath hens went first — except for the small rem- 

 liant which still inhabits Martha's Vineyard, 

 Massachusetts — and the passenger pigeon lin- 

 gered on for a few years longer. 



As early as 1815 Audubon says that he saw 

 schooners tied to the wharves of New York laden 

 with pigeons. From that time forward the slay- 

 ing of these birds went on without abatement, 

 until the species suddenly ceased to exist. It is 

 estimated that approximately a billion were killed 

 in Michigan in 1878. About twelve million were 

 shipped from one Michigan town in a single sea- 

 son and from another town about sixteen million 

 in two years. These birds brought twelve to fifty 

 cents a dozen in the market. The last one alive in 

 the wild state was killed in 1908. 



Supplementing his nets, the professional hunter 

 for many years employed cannons against the great 

 rafts of water-fowl which lay on the quiet waters 

 of our coastal bays. These weapons were utilized 

 mostly at night when the victims rested in com- 

 pact flocks on the water surface. The cannon 

 was mounted in the bow of a boat on a tripod and 

 swivel. The boat was then silently piloted up to a 

 sleeping flock, and the gun, crammed to the muzzle 

 with small shot, was discharged into its midst. 

 The slaughter was ghastly and extremely waste- 

 ful. Perhaps two hundred bodies might be col- 



