THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 



PASSING OF THE PASSENGER PIGEON. 



The last survivor of many millions of wild passenger pigeons 

 that were formerly found through the middle west and in the 

 eastern states died on September 1 at Cincinnati Zoological 

 Gardens. This bird was a female and was hatched in captivity 

 in Cincinnati twenty-two years ago. Every effort was made to 

 keep the race from dying out by breeding in captivity, but this 

 was unsuccessful. 



The death of this pigeon from some standpoints may seem 

 a small matter, but from a scientific standpoint very likely 

 means the extinction of a race of birds. A few skins, skeletons 

 and stuffed specimens in some of the museums are now all that 

 is left of the uncounted millions of wild pigeons that fairly 

 blackened the skies during the migrating season. 



Two species of pigeons were formerly very abundant in the 

 United States, the Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) of 

 the eastern states and the Band-tailed Pigeon (Columba fasciata) 

 of the western United States. 



The passenger pigeon was formerly so abundant in the east- 

 ern states that its extermination seemed impossible. Yet during 

 the past few years, a large amount of money has been offered 

 by ornithologists in the East to any one who could find a single 

 pair of these birds. The rewards were not offered for the dead 

 birds, but for information as to where any of these birds were 

 living or especially breeding. The fact that no authentic infor- 

 mation has been discovered as to the existence of a single pigeon 

 in the wild state leads many people to believe they are totally 

 extinct. 



WHAT BECAME OF OUR WILD PIGEONS? 



The question as to what has become of the passenger pigeon 

 has been widely discussed in outdoor magazines and among sports- 

 men. It did not disappear on any given date, but as a species, 

 the bird began rapidly disappearing in the sixties or from about 

 1870. The most likely cause of the disappearance was that the 

 bird nested in immense colonies and during the breeding season, 

 they were systematically slaughtered by the wholesale for the 

 market. In 1869 from the town of Hartford, Michigan, three 



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