30 
IOWA BIRD LIFE— VI, 1036 
it happened again. The five former presidents were in attendance, 
as well as the new president, 3VL L. Jones, Arthur Palas and Walter 
Rosene, Sr. are the only members who have attended every meeting 
of the Onion. They were both at Fairfield this year, so their fine 
record remains unbroken. 
* * * * * 
Irwin T. Bode is another of our members to join the U. S. Biologi- 
cal Survey. He is connected with the Division of Wildlife Research 
and is located at Washington, D, C. He was formerly Iowa State 
Fish and Game Warden. 
***** 
We are very glad of the opportunity to publish Mr. Orr's historical 
sketch of the Passenger Pigeon. It establishes breeding records for 
Allamakee and Winneshiek Counties and is an important contribution 
to the Iowa literature of this bird. The article is takeo from an un- 
published manuscript entitled "Reminiscences of a Pioneer Boy/ which 
Mr. Orr has written for the benefit of his children and grandchildren. 
Mr. Orr is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, was born at McGregor, Iowa, 
June 16, 1857, and has always H 1f ed in this state. In 1858 his parents 
moved to a farm near Postville, 
and this was his home until 1904 
when he moved to Waukon, his 
present home. He followed the 
occupation of farming until his 
30th year, when because of 
physical disability he was forced 
to leave it. After that he was, 
in succession, a teacher, assist- 
ant bank cashier, Clerk of the 
District Court, and in the service 
of the Bell Telephone Company. 
He is now retired. His oppor- 
tunities to serve the public came 
to him in abundance. Among 
them was a six- year term as 
Trustee of the State College of 
Agriculture. In later years he 
gave much time to the study of 
Indian archaeology in the Mis- 
sissippi Valley, and during the 
summers of 1934 and 1935, un- 
der Project 1047 of the Iowa 
Planning Board, he engaged in 
state-wide surveys and explora- 
tions of prehistoric Indian 
mounds and village sites. 
Of his ornithological interests 
he says: “While yet a boy, and with very limited opportunities for 
acquiring information, I became greatly interested in the bird life 
then so abundant about my home. Before I had reached my majority 
I had made a collection of the eggs of birds nesting locally, including 
the Long-cored Owl, Red-tailed Hawk, Upland Plover, Prairie Chicken, 
Short-billed Marsh Wren and Passenger Pigeon, once common nesting 
birds in the county. Of these the Red-tailed Hawk alone still occupies 
less than half a dozen old nesting trees; the others are gone from our 
midst.” Mr. Orr recently became a member of Iowa Ornithologists’ 
Union. 
Elli.'on Orr 
