FOREST AND STREAM 
243 
What Became of the Passenger Pigeon? 
THE LAST PASSENGER PIGEON DYING. 
Cincinnati, August 18. (Special to Forest and 
Stream ).—It is a matter of extreme regret to 
report that the last known living passenger 
pigeon is dying at the Cincinnati Zoo- That it 
has been failing rapidly has been noticeable for 
some time, but nothing serious was apparent un¬ 
til last Monday, when Superintendent Stephan 
discovered the bird lying on its back apparently 
dead. It revived however and last night was 
feeding heartily, but hope for its continued life 
beyond a few weeks at the most has been 
abandoned. 
THE PASSENGER PIGEON—A PART OF ITS 
HISTORY. 
Editor Forest and Stream’ 
In a recent issue of Forest and Stream, an 
article on the disappearance of the wild pigeon, 
by W. C. Marsden, gives the date of its final 
extinction as 1868. The further indication that 
the principal home of the pigeon was near Forks- 
ville, Pa., and that a snowstorm there in 1868 
exterminated them, is not consistent with well- 
known facts. 
In the interest of historical accuracy, I desire 
to say that beginning in 1846, and for 41 years 
thereafter, I lived in Iowa on or near the Miss¬ 
issippi river, the valley of which at that date 
and until their final disappearance, was no doubt 
the greatest migratory route of the wild pigeons 
in the known world—flocks containing millions, 
and probably billions, of birds passing over dur¬ 
ing the spring and fall migratory periods. 
Up to 1868 there was only a slight lessening 
of their numbers. At that time, and up to 1874, 
they were used by the Iowa State Sportsman’s 
Association (of which I was secretary), at its 
annual tournaments in quantities of 10,000 or 
more each year. About 1874 the diminution was 
such that their use by us as targets (I should 
perhaps say slaughter) was discontinued, al¬ 
though the flight did not entirely cease until after 
1880. 
Natural Histories inform us that as late as 1876 
there was one nesting ground in Michigan 4 miles 
by 28 miles in area. Nestings are also referred 
to as existing as late as 1886 in Michigan. 
They were during their great flights netted, 
shot and marketed by millions, and that 'has been 
given by some writers as the cause of their ex¬ 
tinction. I believe, however, that I have seen 
more fly over in one day in the 50’s than were 
killed and marketed during their entire history. 
Storms driving them into the sea or to other 
countries have also been given as the cause of 
their disappearance; also an epidemic of dis¬ 
ease. The latter seems most plausible, yet, I 
never saw or heard of one that was diseased, and 
it is almost incredible that a disease fatal enough 
to eliminate them could prevail without being 
observed. I think their disappearance has never 
yet been satisfactorily accounted for. I doubt 
if it ever will be. D. C. BEAMAN. 
A VIRGINIA VIEW. 
South Richmond, Va., August 1st, 1914. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have read with some interest an article in 
your issue of August 1st, entitled “What Has 
Become of the Wild Pigeons?” by William C. 
Marsden, in which the writer undertakes to as¬ 
sign as the cause of the disappearance of this 
bird, myriads of which were once found in this 
country, an unusually severe and protracted 
snowstorm, in his locality in Pennsylvania, which 
resulted in the starvation and death of large 
quantities, which had migrated to that locality. 
The object of this letter, however, is not a con¬ 
troversial one, but merely to inform Mr. Mars¬ 
den, the author of the letter, that the writer was 
a student at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 
located at Blacksburg, Montgomery county, Vir¬ 
ginia, from February, 1877, to August, 1878, and 
while there shot wild pigeons in the forests around 
Blacksburg (which is among the Blue Ridge 
mountains). 
The pigeons were not in large numbers, and it 
is now so long ago that I couldn’t tell what time 
of the year it was, although my impression is that 
the trees were in leaf at the time. Neither I 
remember whether it was in 1877, or in 1878, that 
I shot them (only on one occasion, I speak of), 
but that I did actually shoot them, that they 
were actually wild pigeons, and that I saw quite 
a number of them at the time (certainly as many 
as a dozen), I am positive. 
The time, it will be observed, post-dates the 
date assigned by Mr. Marsden for the total ex¬ 
tinction of the ‘species by at least nine years, and 
while he may be correct in his theory of the 
cause of the disappearance of the bird, he has 
certainly missed the exact date. 
CHAS. L. PAGE. 
The Wash Lady is Out. 
