Nesting Habits of the Pigeon 213 



tainly doubly difficult, and the tendency to count the 

 same nests twice is increased. 



The first nests that I found were in large white oak 

 trees at the edge of a pond. The date was May 17, 

 1 873. The nests were few in number and only one nest 

 in a tree. There was but a single egg in a nest ; in fact 

 this is all I have found at any time. The last nest that 

 I have met with south of the forty-third parallel was 

 forty feet up in a tamarack tree in a swamp near the 

 river, June i, 1 884. This nest was alone and would not 

 have been discovered had not the birds flown to it. I 

 have found several instances of pairs of pigeons build- 

 ing isolated nests, and cannot help but think that if all 

 birds had followed this custom that the pigeons would 

 still be with us in vast numbers. 



As late as May 9, 1880, my lamented friend, the late 

 C. W. Gunn, found a rookery in a cedar woods in Che- 

 boygan County. These nests contained a single egg 

 each, and he secured about fifty fresh eggs. He did not 

 think their number excessive, as the netters were killing 

 the birds in every direction. But now we can look upon 

 such a trip almost as devastation because the birds are 

 so scarce. 



In 1885 I met with the pigeon on Mackinac Island, 

 and have found a few isolated flocks in the Lower 

 Peninsula since then, generally in the fall, but it is safe 

 to say that the birds will never again appear in one- 

 thousandth part of the number of former years. 



