CHAPTER XXII 
THE ORDER OF PIGEONS AND DOVES 
COLUMBAE 
The Passenger Pigeon 1 was until very re- 
cently only a bird of history; and, until 1899, it 
was regarded as a species practically extinct. 
The men who lived in the Mississippi Valley forty 
years ago remember the flocks that flew swiftly 
over the farms, sometimes fifty and sometimes 
two hundred or more birds together. It was a 
wonderful sight to see the perfect mechanical 
precision with which they kept together, wheel- 
ing and circling in as perfect formation as the 
slats of a Venetian blind. 
This very rare bird is much larger than a dove. 
Its color is bluish above, and reddish-brown 
underneath, and the feathers of its neck have 
a rich metallic lustre. Its tail is long and ■pointed , 
and its feet and legs are red. It never was 
found in the far West, and never will be. The 
pigeon of the Pacific coast is a totally different 
species. 
In the early days, Ohio seemed to be the cen- 
tre of abundance of this bird, and the accounts 
that have been written of that period relate how 
the Pigeons sat so thickly upon the trees that 
branches were broken by their weight; how 
they covered the earth when they alighted in 
the fields to feed, and darkened the sky when 
they flew. 
As usual, that great abundance of wild life 
provoked great slaughter. Migrating Pigeons 
were killed by wholesale methods. While breed- 
ing they were attacked in their nesting-places, 
and in an incredibly short time the great flocks 
vanished. As in the case of the blotting out of 
the great northern buffalo-herd, in 1884, many 
persons have wondered, and do still, whether the 
great flocks of Pigeons have not migrated, and 
found a permanent home elsewhere. There is not 
a single fact on which to base either belief or sup- 
position that the Passenger Pigeon exists abun- 
dantly in Mexico, Central America or elsewhere. 
Among naturalists, the blotting out of this 
interesting species has been a source of sincere 
regret. As usual, no one thought of protecting 
it until it was entirely too late. But it seems 
as if we are to be given another opportunity to 
count this bird in our avifauna. Beginning 
about 1891, a few small flocks began to appear 
in the United States, first four or five birds to- 
gether, and then larger flocks. Mr. George O. 
Shields, Editor of Recreation Magazine, has 
carefully sought out and published the details of 
every Pigeon occurrence that came to his knowl- 
edge. Up to January, 1901, the following ob- 
servations of the occurrence of Passenger 
Pigeons were reported in the magazine mentioned 
above : 
Wisconsin, Milton 1891 to ’99 
Canada, Ft. QuAppelle July, 1898 
Illinois, Edinburg “ 
Kentucky, Caldwell Co Oct., “ 
Michigan, Ann Arbor Oct., “ 
Wisconsin, Lime Ridge April, 1899 
Indiana, Sullivan May, “ 
Ohio, Litchfield April, “ 
Wisconsin, Amherst “ “ 
Illinois, Chadwick Oct., “ 
Wisconsin, Milwaukee “ 
“ Norway May, “ 
Manitoba, Southern “ 
New York, Willsville Sept., “ 
Canada, Three Riveis Dec., 1899 
New York, Willowemoc Nov., “ 
Minnesota, Dumont July, “ 
Michigan, Lowell 1900 
1 Ec-to-pis'tes mi-gra-to'ri-us. 
. 3 birds 
30 “ 
“ Dec., 1898. 
“ May, 1899. 
Feb. “ 
200 “ 
4* 
Apr., “ 
July, “ 
44 44 
100 “ 
<4 
25 “ 
44 
1.50 “ 
44 
June, “ 
Aug., “ 
100 “ 
u 
50 “ 
u 
Sept., “ 
17 “ 
u 
200 “ 
44 
44 44 
A few “ 
44 
Jan., 1900. 
4 4 4 4 
10 “ 
u 
1 bird 
200 birds 
45 “ 
u 
u 
44 
4 4 4 4 
Feb., “ 
4 4 44 
40 “ 
44 
Dec.. “ 
Average length, about 16 inches. 
237 
