Denese DO Ne Bib Et TN 23 
Persecution of the Passenger Pigeon continued until the last definitely 
known wild pigeon was shot in 1900. The last nesting in Illinois was in the 
spring of 1893. The last specimen was taken in Illinois about 1897. Sight 
records after 1900 are considered questionable, due to the similarity between 
the Passenger Pigeon and the Mourning Dove. The last specimen in captivity 
died in 1914 in the Cincinnati Zoo. A stuffed specimen can be seen at the 
Chicago Natural History Museum. 
The extinction of the Passenger Pigeon demonstrated to conservationists 
the inability of many species of birds to adjust to the advance of man. To- 
day, such species as the Bald Eagle and the Prairie Chicken are also en- 
dangered because man has changed their environment in a way to which 
the birds cannot adapt. If these species are to be saved, they will need 
constant effective protection. This protection must not come too late. The 
last wild Passenger Pigeons died just about 87 years after John James 
Audubon saw the great flock in Louisville, described earlier in this article — 
a reminder of how fast a species, at one time probably the most numerous 
in North America, can be destroyed. 
2238 Spruce Road, Homewood, Illinois 
a £ £ a 
BIRTHDAY SOLILOQUY 
By Joseph Dvorak 
With mixed feelings, I would dare say, 
You view the world this birthday morning. 
Do you love the crowds? —- Then windy congresses 
Of birds are yours, as you invite your friends 
To celebrate a milestone on life’s highway. 
But should your thoughts turn to solitude, 
The madding crowd is not for you — 
Rather the lone flying one, the waterfowl, 
Winging over the marsh in search of 
Reedy refuge, shares your mood. 
Life’s highway is a fearsome way; 
We know not whence its turning: 
But if, at journey’s end, we say, 
“Well was the work its learning,” 
We need not fear the verdict, nay, 
Nor discount our own earning. 
933 N. Long Avenue, Chicago, IHinois 60651 
Editor's Note: Mr. Dvorak, a Life Member of the I.A.S. for over 11 years, 
sent in his poem with a note announcing his retirement and leisurely 
excursion to the West Coast to re-settle near Burbank, California. He is 
also a Life Member of The American Ornihologists’ Union, and holds 
memberships in the National Audubon Society, Chicago Ornitholigical 
Society, the Wilderness Society, and other conservation and nature groups. 
We wish him, “Happy wanderings.” 
