21 6 The Passenger Pigeon 



a half-grown bird — the only instance in my experience. 

 From watching the ways of some captive birds kept as 

 stool-pigeons, I am well satisfied that two young are not 

 rarely hatched at some weeks apart, and they do fairly 

 well in confinement. 



The young are fed by a process known as regurgita- 

 tion, the partially digested contents of the birds' crops 

 being ejected into the mouths of the squabs. 



The position of the nest varies greatly. Often the 

 nests are well out on slender branches and in dangerous 

 positions, considering the shiftlessness of the structure. 

 When a rookery is visited, nests may be found in all 

 manner of situation. I have found single nests built on 

 small twigs next the body of an oak tree, and at a height 

 of only ten feet, and again have seen nests forty feet up 

 in thick tamaracks. 



The eggs do not vary much in size or color. They 

 are white, but without the polish seen on the egg of the 

 domestic pigeon. About one and one-half by one inch 

 is the regulation size. 



By reference to old price lists of nearly a quarter of 

 a century ago I find that the eggs were then listed at 

 twenty-five cents, while it would be difficult to secure 

 good specimens at present at six times the figure. 



