62 RECREATION. 
I can not tell any of the 6 or their parents 
apart. 

BAND-TAILS; NOT PASSENGERS. 
I am sending you the head, wings and 
feet of what I believe was a real old time 
wild pigeon. This year there have been 
countless thousands of them in the moun- 
tains of this State. 1 know of I00 having 
been killed in a day by one gun. They are 
not protected here, but you bet they will be 
next year if they are the real thing. 
Lundy, Stanwood, Wash. 
ANSWER. 
The head, wing and feet which you sent 
are those of a band-tail pigeon, and not of a 
passenger pigeon. The former is fairly 
plentiful along the coast from British Co- 
lumbia to lower California, and it is a great 
pity the coast States do not enact laws for 
its rigid protection. 
It will be another national disgrace to 
have this beautiful and useful bird wiped 
off the earth, as its Eastern relatives have 
been. You and every thoughtful, careful 
sportsm*n should refrain from shooting 
these birds, and should begin an active 
campaign to induce your Western Legis- 
latures to pass laws placing a 10 years close 
season on the band-tail pigeon.—EbrTor. 

ANSWERING MR. BADGER. 
Answering L. M. Badger in August 
RECREATION, the tree was probably a buck 
oak, and the horn growing near the top 
was torn off by the wind, or fell when ripe, 
and lodged in the crotch, or it might have 
been a dropped horn carried upward on an 
acorn shoot. More likely I picked it up 
years ago and in an idle moment hung 
it in the forks; if so, I am sorry the points 
were gnawed. As the crotch was 8 feet 
from the ground, I think the gnawing was 
done by a giraffe; they will do it every 
time if not watched. Of course, a porcu- 
pine or a badger might have done it. 
Naturalist, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
The deer horn found by L. M. Badger 
imbedded in the trunk of a small tree was 
doubtless placed by some one in a crotch 
of the tree when it was a sapling. The 
wood gradually grew about and imbedded 
the horn, just as growing wood often im- 
beds fence wire. The gnawing of the horn 
was probably done by red squirrels. It 
is a common habit of theirs here in Min- 
nesota. Henry Joerg, Madelia, Minn. 

THESE ARE ALSO BAND-TAILS. 
I was surprised to see in REcrEATION the 
claim that the wild. pigeon has become ex- 
tinct. If the writer of that statement should 
ever visit the coast of Oregon in August 
- the mountains 
he would become convinced that there are 
plenty left. I was at Pillamook bay last 
August and the wild pigeons were there by 
thousands, feeding on elder berries, which 
grow in abundance on this coast. They also 
came into the Willamette valley in large 
numbers in May and June. There are not 
so many here, however, as there were a few 
years ago. I do not think thére is any law 
against shooting them at any season. 
N. W. Smith, Lebanon, Ore. 
ANSWER, 
The bird you refer to is not the Eastern 
wild pigeon, or passenger pigeon, which 
was once abundant all over the Eastern 
and middle States. Your bird is the band- 
tail pigeon, Columba fasciata.. It is a beau- 
tiful, interesting and innocent creature and 
its killing should be prohibited by law in 
all the coast States for at least 10 years.— 
EpITor. ; 

“NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 
To-day I was watching an English spar- 
row trying to fly with a heavy load. It 
rose to an elevation of about 100 feet, and 
dropped its burden which, on examination, 
I found to be a live fledgling. The old bird 
did not again go near the young one. Is 
it customary for these birds to do this? 
J. G. Stewart, Cedar Rapids, Ia. 
This was probably the fledgling of some~ 
other bird. English sparrows eat the young 
of other birds, and possibly the young of 
their own kind from other nests; but it is 
not likely that they ever carry their own 
young about.—EDITor. 

I saw recently among a lot of English 
sparrows a bird which I at first thought was 
a canary. I shot it. Examination con- 
vinced me that it, too, was an English 
sparrow. Its back was light golden in 
color, the rest of its plumage was pure 
white. Has anyone else ever seen such a 
freak? 
A friend found a living crow blackbird 
stapled to a fence post, and hanging head 
downward. As he was unable to draw the 
staples and release the poor bird, he killed 
it to end its misery. 
Raymond Henshaw, Lyons, Kan. 

There are a great many wild pigeons in 
of Western Texas and 
Southern New Mexico, flocks of several 
hundreds being frequently seen. . 
D. M. P., El Paso, Texas. 
The bird vou refer to is not the American 
passenger pigeon. It is the band tail pigeon, 
Columbia fasciata.—EDITOor. 

