CHAPTER XXII 

 THE ORDER OF PIGEONS AND DOVES 



COLUMBAE 



The Passenger Pigeon' was until very re- 

 cently only a bird of history; and, until 1899, it 

 was regarded as a species practically extinct. 

 The men who lived in the Mississippi Valley forty 

 years ago remember the flocks that flew swiftly 

 over the farms, sometimes fifty and sometimes 

 two hundred or more birds together. It was a 

 wonderful sight to see the perfect mechanical 

 precision with which they kept together, wheel- 

 ing and circUng in as perfect formation as the 

 slats of a Venetian blind. 



This very rare bird is much larger than a dove. 

 Its color is bluish above, and reddish-brown 

 underneath, and the feathers of its neck have 

 a rich metallic lustre. Its tail is long and pointed, 

 and its feet and legs are red. It never was 

 found in the far West, and never will be. The 

 pigeon of the Pacific coast is a totally different 

 species. 



In the early days, Ohio seemed to be the cen- 

 tre of abundance of this bird, and the accounts 

 that have been written of that period relate how 

 the Pigeons sat so thickly upon the trees that 

 branches were broken by their weight; how 

 they covered the earth when they aUghted in 

 the fields to feed, and darkened the sky when 

 they flew. 



As usual, that great abundance of wild life 



provoked great slaughter. Migrating Pigeons 

 were killed by wholesale methods. While breed- 

 ing they were attacked in their nesting-places, 

 and in an incredibly short time the great flocks 

 vanished. As in the case of the blotting out of 

 the great northern buffalo-herd, in 1884, many 

 persons have wondered, and do stiU, whether the 

 great flocks of Pigeons have not migrated, and 

 found a permanent home elsewhere. There is not 

 a single fact on which to base either belief or sup- 

 position that the Passenger Pigeon exists abun- 

 dantly in Mexico, Central America or elsewhere. 

 Among naturalists, the blotting out of this 

 interesting species has been a source of sincere 

 regret. As usual, no one thought of protecting 

 it until it was entirely too late. But it seems 

 as if we are to be given another opportunity to 

 count this bird in our avifauna. Beginning 

 about 1891, a few small flocks began to appear 

 in the United States, first four or five birds to- 

 gether, and then larger flocks. Mr. George O. 

 Shields, Editor of Recreation Magazine, has 

 carefully sought out and published the details of 

 every Pigeon occurrence that came to his knowl- 

 edge. Up to January, 1901, the following ob- 

 servations of the occurrence of Passenger 

 Pigeons were reported in the magazine mentioned 

 above : 



Wisconsin, Milton 1891 to '99 Several annually, 



1898. 



flock, 

 birds. 



Canada, Ft. QuAppelle July, 



Illinois, Edinburg 



Kentucky, Caldwell Co Oct., " 



Michigan, Ann Arbor Oct., " 



Wisconsin, Lime Ridge April, 1899 



Indiana, Sullivan May, " 



Ohio, Litchfield April, " 



Wisconsin, Amherst " " 



Illinois, Chadwick Oct., " 



Wisconsin, Milwaukee " " 



" Norway May, " 



Manitoba, Southern " 



New York, Willsville Sept., " 



Canada, Three Riveis Dec, 1899 1 bird 



New York, Willowemoc Nov., " 200 birds 



Minnesota, Dumont July, " 45 " 



Michigan, Lowell 1900 40 " 



.A 

 .. 3 



. 30 

 .200 

 .100 

 . 25 

 .150 

 .100 

 . 50 

 . 17 

 .200 

 .A few 

 10 



' Ec-to-pis'tes mi-^a-to'ri-us. 



Average length, about 16 inches. 

 237 



