Pigeons Now—and Then. 
A few weeks ago S. M. DeGolier, of Clayton, 
Wis., reported in the Rural New Yorker that 
he had recently seen a flock of pigeons—mean¬ 
ing passenger pigeons. His letter read as fol¬ 
lows : 
“I was very much surprised yesterday at the 
flight of a flock of forty or fifty pigeons. I 
had supposed them to be extinct. There can 
be no mistake about this, as they passed almost 
directly over my head, in the open, and not more 
than fifty feet high, and I was familiar with 
them, having netted them fifty years ago in 
Pennsylvania, but had not 
seen any before in thirty-five 
years.” 
A letter from this office ask¬ 
ing for further details elicited 
this interesting response: 
Clayton, Wis., July 17.— 
Editor Forest and Stream: I 
am sorry that I am unable to 
give you any further informa¬ 
tion in regard to them, except 
perhaps to convince you that 
I was familiar with them years 
ago and that they were the 
bona fide passenger or migra¬ 
tory pigeons of long ago. 
I was born and raised in 
Bradford, Pa., and fifty years 
ago there was a crop of beech¬ 
nuts once in about every seven 
years in McKean, Elk and 
Potter counties, Pennsylvania, 
and Cattaraugus county, New 
York, and then the pigeons 
nested there. I was in at the 
slaughter at two such nestings, 
once just below where the big Kinzua bridge 
crosses. This one was seven miles wide and 
about twenty miles long, in thick heavy timber, 
and every branch of every tree had a nest. 
There were about 300 Seneca Indians and 500 
whites at this slaughter. The little Indians six 
to ten years old often bagged more squabs than 
their parents, two of them going together, one 
with a bow and large headed pine arrows. He 
would shoot at the bottom of the nest, which 
was loosely built of small sticks, and usually 
contained two squabs—never more—and some¬ 
times only one. The arrow would throw the 
pigeons up twelve to sixteen inches. They would 
open their wings and come down far at one 
side of the nest, but close to a little Indian who 
would wring its neck, remove the crop and place 
it in the sack with the rest, when it was worth 
twenty-five cents per dozen. 
The other nesting was on what was called 
Bills run, not far from Olean, N. Y. This one 
was about five miles wide and fifteen long. I 
netted them in their flight from both of these 
nestings and once caught twenty-five dozen in 
one hour. They never eat anything within ten 
or twelve miles of their nests. This is all re¬ 
served for their young, so we must get that 
far away with our nets. The flight went down 
some valley, all following over one course, and 
then they worked back through the timber. Ten 
miles from the nesting the cocks used to reach 
us between 3 and 4 o’clock a. m. and the 
hens would come at 11 a. m. after the males 
had returned and taken their places on the nests. 
In 1855 or 1856 I saw a flock of pigeons pass 
directly over Bradford that was perhaps a mile 
wide, and I think it took them one hour and 
fifteen minutes to pass—one solid continuous flock 
that darkened the sun like a huge thunder cloud. 
I settled here in Wisconsin in 1872 and in 
1875 there was a flight of pigeons lasting two 
part of dr. Grenfell’s team. 
From Wilfred T. 
Grenfell’s book. “Adrift on an Ice-Pan,” recently published by 
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. 
Dog Epidemic in Labrador. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The arrival of the spring news budget from 
Labrador states that there has been a serious 
epidemic among the draught dogs in Labrador 
and Northern Newfoundland, the mail service 
being seriously disabled and Dr. Grenfell him¬ 
self, the Labrador missionary, losing no less 
than sixteen of his best hauling dogs. The 
disease is known as distemper. The same trouble 
is said to be prevalent in the Aleutian Islands, 
where it is known as “hooke-worm,” and has 
played havoc with the blue fox farms, breaking 
many of them up and com¬ 
pelling the abandonment of 
what at the start promised to 
be a very remunerative indus¬ 
try. The silver fox farms in 
Labrador have been similarly 
affected. The scarcity of dogs 
has prevented the hauling of 
wood for fuel, so that much 
suffering from cold has re¬ 
sulted. Fortunately the spring 
temperature has been mild, the 
mercury for March only once 
falling as low as 8 degrees be¬ 
low zero. 
H. Mather Hare, the attend¬ 
ant at Harrington, is asking 
for books on dog diseases, and 
if you or your readers have 
such to spare they will be 
promptly forwarded if sent 
in the care of New England 
Grenfell Association, 14 Bea¬ 
con street, Boston. 
C. Hallock. 
or three days in small flocks, and that was the 
last I saw until this flock last May. I live on 
the bank of a lake. Pigeons, when flying low, 
never pass over a body of water’or an open 
field if they can help it. It was about 5 a. m. 
when they came around the lake. They could 
not avoid the opening near my residence and 
passed almost directly over my head in their 
course to some timber beyond. I heard them 
in time to get a good view of them. Of course 
their flight was too rapid to count them, but a 
conservative estimate would place their num¬ 
ber at forty or fifty and perhaps seventy-five. 
The mourning dove is common with us, but at 
that time of year are never seen except in pairs. 
Later, when feeding in grain fields, I have seen 
five or six together, but when raised they scatter. 
Someone writing from Canada claims to have 
seen a flock of pigeons there within a few years. 
I think it is the same flock. 
Of course I could not tell how much they 
deviated for the lake, but I think their general 
course was northwest. 
I wish I could give you further information, 
but you will see that the item in the Rural New 
Yorker contained it all. I have not seen or heard 
anything about them since. S. M. DeGolier. 
Tuberculin Test in Monkeys. 
It is well known that for some years the Zoo¬ 
logical Society of Philadelphia has conducted a 
rigorous quarantine system for incoming mon¬ 
keys, and taken exact measures for the detec¬ 
tion of tuberculosis in its gardens. In the Pro¬ 
ceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 
Dr. Arthur Erwin Brown, Secretary of the Phila¬ 
delphia Society, has a very interesting article 
just published on the “Tuberculin Test in Mon¬ 
keys, with Notes on the Temperature of Mam¬ 
mals.” This is an exposition of the methods 
of the society’s laboratory of pathology, illus¬ 
trated by charts, and one apparent result of the 
investigations held and the precautions taken is 
the fact that more than a year has passed with¬ 
out evidence of the existence of tuberculosis in 
the monkey house. All animal keepers in tem¬ 
perate climes know how exceedingly subject to 
tuberculosis the Primates are, and these results 
are of extraordinary interest. Dr. Brown’s paper 
may profitably be read by all zoologists. 
The Forest and Stream may he obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. , 
