The Last of the Pigeons 155 



the year when huckleberries were ripe, for he was 

 berry-picking when he first observed them. 



The writer of the following newspaper clipping of 

 recent date is emphatically skeptical regarding the pres- 

 ent-day existence of even an isolated pigeon : 



LAST PIGEON FLIGHT IN IOSCO IN 1880 



MILLIONS PASSED THROUGH THEN, BUT THEY HAVE 

 NEVER BEEN THERE SINCE 



Tawas, Mich., July 27. — ^John Sims, county game 

 and fish warden, ridicules the idea of flocks of wild 

 pigeons being found in Iosco County, as was reported 

 in some of the State papers. He says: "There are no 

 wild pigeons in Iosco County; nor have there been any 

 here since April i, 1880. There fell about six inches 

 of snow on that day, then the weather cleared and the 

 sun rose bright and clear, but it was but for a short 

 time, as the air was clouded with pigeons going west- 

 ward. That was the first time they had been here for 

 a number of years, and, although it was Sunday, every- 

 one who had a gun was shooting or trying to shoot, and 

 there were lots of pigeons killed that day in nearly all 

 the streets of Tawas. There were simply millions of 

 them going westward, and those that were killed were 

 picked up out of the snow. Since that day there have 

 heen no wild pigeons here. We have lots of mourning 

 .doves here, and the writer has probably seen these. 



