42 



THE OOLOGIST. 



found it, and perched close by, watch- 

 ing in alarm our inspection of her 

 treasure. 



During the past ten years I have 

 hunted in vain for a nest of this rare 

 breeder m this county, in fact, have 

 never observed a bird in the breeding 

 season and have seen very few even 

 during the winter months. 



Wild Pigeons. 



Reports from various locations in 

 the Lake Superior region indicate 

 that, after an absence of thirty years, 

 wild pigeons, also called passenger 

 pigeons because of the conspicuous 

 habit of passing from one part of the 

 country to another in immense flocks, 

 sometimes clouding the sky — are com- 

 ing back to the forests of "the north 

 country." Just where these pretty 

 birds of passage have kept themselves 

 for a third of a century is not known, 

 but the general superstition is that 

 they have been breeding in the wood- 

 ed unsettled lands of South America. 

 "The Boston Advertiser" says woods- 

 men report hundreds of them 1 along 

 the Colquet River, in St. Louis county, 

 and colonies have also arrived, it is 

 said, in Wisconsin woods, north of 

 Superior. Last spring a flock was seen 

 in Presque Isle Park, at Marquette, 

 Mich., by the caretaker, who when a 

 young man had killed many of the 

 birds, and he recognized the species 

 at once. 



Many middle aged and elderly men 

 remember the old days on their farms 

 in Minnesota and Michigan in the 

 Great Lakes region, when these birds 

 were so numerous that a boy could 

 kill hundreds of them in a day with 

 no better weapon than a club. 



In those days trapping the birds for 

 the market was a regular business with 

 a large number of men. Nets were 

 spread out in the stubble field after 



the harvest. A few decoy pigeons 

 were placed here and there, just as 

 sportsmen now decoy wild ducks in 

 their flight. 



Then lured by their kind, and a 

 lavish sprinkling of grain, the pig- 

 eons would descend in thousands on 

 the net covered ground. A dexterious 

 sweep of the net by experienced 

 hands would entrap the quarry. 



The birds were served at hotels 

 and restaurants in the cities and were 

 regarded a great delicacy. In fact, 

 such great favor did this food win that 

 squab raising has been a profitable 

 business since the departure of the 

 wild species years ago. 



Stories about old settlers seeing 

 millions of passenger pigeons instead 

 of thousands might seem somewhat 

 exaggerated, but early travelers in the 

 region of the Great Lakes have re- 

 marked in their writings the enor- 

 mous numbers of these birds, which 

 required for their food great quanti- 

 ties of grain. 



Their food consisted of the smallest 

 acorn and thin shelled nuts, beech 

 nuts, and a variety of berries and 

 small fruits. Where such material was 

 plentiful they gathered in vast congre- 

 gations, which thronged upon the 

 trees until the branches would break 

 with their weight. 



Pigeon shooting was a favorite 

 amusement among sportsmen when 

 the birds were, plentiful. As many as 

 twenty thousand birds were used at 

 a single tournament before the public 

 sentiment and law checked' the slaugh- 

 ter. The incessant slaughter and per- 

 secution, together with the clearing 

 away of large areas of forest, rapidly 

 drove the pigeons out. 



The disappearance of the birds 

 from the lake region was hastened by 

 the cold winters and late, stormy 

 springs between I860 1 and 1870. Since 

 then the wild pigeons have been 



