130 The Passenger Pigeon 



on the ground. By crowding the net back, it sprung 

 the stakes over, which sprung the net. The stool- 

 pigeons were made to hover by pulling a line reaching 

 into the bough house, where the pigeoner awaited them 

 with his fliers. 



When a flock of pigeons came near enough to spy 

 the fliers, the pigeoner threw the tethered birds into 

 the air. They quickly flew the length of the line and 

 then hovered near the ground. They had the appear- 

 ance of feeding on the bed, which, of course, has been 

 supplied with food. The wild flock alighted and began 

 feeding. The net rope passing through the bough 

 house was pulled by the pigeoner, and this drew the 

 flying staffs from under the hooks, the staffs raised the 

 front edge of the net up about four feet, and over It 

 went as quick as a flash, covering or catching perhaps 

 five hundred at once. 



Letter from James B. Purdy, of Plymouth, Mich. : 



November, 1894. 



Oscar B. Warren, 



Palmer, Mich. 

 Dear Sir: — Yours of November 24 received, ask- 

 ing me to send notes on the Passenger Pigeon. In the 

 beginning I would say that I am now fifty-one years of 

 age, and I am writing this under the roof of the old 

 homestead where I was born, hence my memory of the 

 passenger pigeon for this locality extends back to my 



