Passenger Pigeon Investigation. 
Clark University, Worcester, Mass., May 14. 
—Editor Forest and Stream: No awards have 
been won as yet. More than thirty reports of 
nests have been received. All but one have de¬ 
scribed two eggs or squabs in the nest, and this 
about as good as settles it that the birds are 
mourning doves. One report—the only one 
about which any doubt remains—stated that 
there was only one egg in the nest, but added: 
“I hope there will be more eggs soon.” 
Prof. Whitman writes me that it is absolutely 
certain that the passenger pigeon never lays more 
than one egg at a clutch. He also adds the valu¬ 
able data that the egg is hatched in twelve and 
a half days and the squab leaves the nest when 
fourteen days of age. Mr. Willard, of Ashburn- 
ham, Mass., strongly supports Prof. Whitman, 
maintaining that he has observed thousands of 
nests and has never seen more than one egg in 
a nest, unless two female birds were laying in 
it; and in dressing many thousands of the birds 
for market, he has found but a single developed 
egg. Prof. Whitman further calls attention to 
the fact that other species of pigeons lay only 
one egg. 
On receipt of a report, the folder with colored 
plate by Reed, containing list of awards and 
rules of the game, is sent by return mail, and 
informant is asked, if he is still sure that his 
birds are passenger pigeons, to inclose—or agree 
to—his $5 forfeit. This generally closes the cor¬ 
respondence. In just one case the* man insisted 
that the birds “‘were not mourning doves,” but 
added that he would not risk any money on their 
being pigeons. Since he states that there are 
two squabs in the nest, his case will not be in¬ 
vestigated further. 
The plan is working to perfection. I have not 
received any $5 “good faith forfeits” as yet and 
consequently have not incurred the expense of 
any wild goose-pigeon-mourning dove chases. I 
need to have added to the statement in the circu¬ 
lar that priority of claim will be decided by time 
of receipt at post or telegraph office of business 
letter or message containing the $5 forfeit or 
definite agreement to forfeit this amount if mis¬ 
taken in the birds. We cannot count guesses or 
bluffs. With this addition the plan of campaign 
is perfect. 
So many encouraging reports are still coming 
in of pigeons observed here and there that pros¬ 
pects are still hopeful that nests may be found. 
C. F. Hodge. 
Field Museum of Natural History. 
The annual report of the Director of the 
Board of Trustees of the Field Museum of 
Natural History is interesting reading, as al¬ 
ways. Dr. Skiff opens with a reference to the 
extension of the scientific operations of the 
Museum into remote lands, which constitute an 
important share of the activities of the Museum 
for the year that has passed. Tibet, the South 
Pacific Islands and the Philippines have yielded 
much material, as have other distant lands; so 
that the collections of the Museum have greatly 
increased. 
Brief reference is made to the death of Dr. 
Wm. Jones, in the Philippines, while collecting 
material for the Field Museum, and the appoint¬ 
ment is announced of Wilfred H. Osgood, long 
an able and valued member of the Biological 
Survey, to the Assistant Curatorship of Mam¬ 
malogy and Ornithology. The activities of the 
various departments have been carried on in all 
respects as usual, but with more energy and with 
great effect. The collections have been much 
enlarged, the work of education, by means of 
lectures and by small study models goes on. 
Chicago is to be congratulated on the activity 
of this great institution. 
New York Zoological Society. 
The executive committee in a report to the 
board of managers of the New York Zoological 
Society, made May 1, 1910, says that a census 
of the animals taken Jan. 1, 1910, showed a total 
of 5,000 specimens. Since that time 348 addi¬ 
tional specimens have been received. There have 
been born three Russian bears, two aoudad, deer 
of several species, a Sardinian moufflon, two 
camels, some peccaries, coyotes, monkeys and 
bison. A small African rhinoceros died in March. 
The Administration Building has been com¬ 
pleted, but on account of the detail of furnishing 
will not be. opened until fall. The National Col¬ 
lection of Heads and Horns has been installed 
in the galleries of the Administration Building, 
where, on May 16, members of the society 
visited the collection. It now numbers over 634 
specimens, of which a number are first records 
and others second records. A separate building 
will probably have to be constructed for this ex¬ 
hibition. 
The society needs more money—-for new houses 
within the park, for enlargement of the Aquar¬ 
ium and an increased sum for maintenance. 
On Jan. 1 it was announced that an effort was 
to be made to raise an endowment fund of at 
least $250,000. Since that time the executive 
committee, of which Madison Grant is chairman, 
has secured subscriptions to this fund amount¬ 
ing to $176,000. It is intended to raise $250,000 
before July 1. 
Muskrat Profits. 
The increasing scarcity of fur-bearing animals 
has sent up the price of muskrat. Both fur and 
meat are staple articles in some of the markets 
of the East and Middle West during the winter 
months. The furs are used largely by fur 
dressers and dyers and are made to closely imi¬ 
tate the more costly furs, thus creating a con¬ 
tinuous demand for the pelts. 
The Smyrna (Del.) Times says: 
“The fur season, which draws to a close in 
this vicinity this week, has been in many respects 
the most remarkable that our trappers have ex¬ 
perienced in many years. The industry has 
grown at a remarkable pace and has put in cir¬ 
culation over $30,000. 
“Bombay Hook Island has been a lively place 
the last winter and trapping marshes have been 
much in demand. Some idea of what the in¬ 
dustry has meant to Bombay Hook can be un¬ 
derstood by the figures of J. Wesley Jones, 
Smyrna’s prominent fur dealer. During the last 
season he has bought .over 26,000 muskrat hides 
and has paid the trappers over $16,000. 
“The largest trapper on Bombay Hook Island 
is Jim Hoffecker, who has delivered 3,200 hides 
from his marsh. James Limer is a close second 
with 3,000 hides and Pressley Goldsborough has 
a record of considerably over a thousand hides. 
The market on hides has been strong and steady, 
around sixty cents for several months. 
“Down in Thoroughfare Neck, in the vicinity 
of Taylor’s Bridge, the trapping industry has 
been equally as lively, and a number of trappers 
will close the season with a record of between 
2,000 and 3,000 hides. John M. Armstrong, of 
Odessa, is the principal fur buyer in lower New 
Castle county and he will close the season with 
an even better record than Mr. Jones. Mr. Arm¬ 
strong, it is said, has bought over 28,000 hides 
and paid the trappers over $17,000. 
“The industry has meant much to farmers hav¬ 
ing marsh land, and an effort will be made next 
year to pay more attention to this indusry. 
A Question About Wild Swans. 
How far south did swans breed in the Mis¬ 
sissippi valley in primitive times? I am led to 
ask this question by having recently come across 
in reading of the travels of La Salle, in Margry, 
Vol. II., p. 178, the following quotation: 
“A prodigious quantity of game also feeds 
there—a quantity so great that in the molting 
season we killed there in one day more than one 
hundred swans with sticks.” 
This refers to the country said to be a league 
below Pemiteoui, where there is a great swamp, 
a portion of which is overflowed at certain sea¬ 
sons of the year. It is on the Illinois River, ap¬ 
parently near Peoria. 
It is impossible to say with certainty what 
species of swan this was, but it seems probable 
that it may have been the trumpeter, which we 
know used to breed in Iowa and Nebraska. 
Can the ornithologists tell us anything about 
how far south the swans of either species used 
to breed in the times before the West was settled 
up? * G. B. G. 
Mammals from Nicaragua. 
Dr. J. A. Allen, in Vol. XXVIII., of the Bul¬ 
letin of the American Museum of Natural His¬ 
tory, reports again on mammals collected for the 
Museum in Nicaragua by Wm. B. Richardson. 
An earlier paper appeared in Volume XXIV., of 
this Bulletin, October, 1908. In that paper fifty- 
four species were recorded and in the present 
one eighty-two are given. Among the larger 
animals are two peccaries, a deer or two and 
several cats, including the jaguar. Three new 
species of mice and a new skunk ( Conepatus 
nicaraguce ) are described. 
