8 
legislation, and by 1850 summer shooting had decimated the breed- 
ing birds in some localities, and it was prohibited for a while; but 
even as late as 1889 woodcock could be legally shot in August in this 
enlightened Commonwealth. At last, after more experimenting, the 
open season was reduced in 1900 to two months (October and Novem- 
ber), and the woodcock now appears to be holding its own in some 
localities. 
PIGEONS AND Doves. 
The extraordinary abundance of the wild or passenger pigeon in 
this country is said to have exceeded that of any other bird in this 
or any other land. Early settlers of Massachusetts asserted that the 
passing flocks covered the whole sky for hours at a time, darkening 
the sun and subduing the light of day, and that but a few leagues 
from where Boston now stands the nests of the pigeons covered the 
trees of the pine forest for miles. The multitude of these birds was so 
prodigious, and they roamed so widely over the continent, that it 
became the general belief that they needed no protection, and that 
their extermination was impossible. 
The first legislation regarding them was chapter 85 of the Acts of 
1848, which was framed to protect the pigeon netters from inter- 
ference, and imposed a penalty of $10 beside actual damages on any 
one who should be convicted of the heinous offense of frightening 
pigeons away from the nets. In 1849 this penalty was increased to 
$20, or imprisonment for not more than thirty days. Thus the pigeon 
was denied protection, while its greatest enemies, the netters, were 
safeguarded in their nefarious business. The parent birds were trapped 
and shot at their nesting places, and the young left to starve, or 
clubbed out of the nests and killed for food. Even the swarming 
millions of the pigeons could not withstand slaughter at all seasons. 
Their numbers in Massachusetts rapidly grew less. Nevertheless, we 
find no protection whatever accorded them until 1879, when as they 
were rapidly nearing extinction a law was passed protecting them on 
their breeding grounds; but even then the netter or hunter could 
trap or shoot them coming or going to or from their nests. At this 
time, however, the pigeons had been practically driven out of the 
State, and only a few were occasionally seen in the migrations; but 
our people were not awake to the fact that the extermination of the 
pigeons was very near. Finally, in 1886, when the species was nearly 
extinct in the State, a law was passed establishing a general close 
season. The last authentic record of a wild pigeon in this State is 
given by Howe and Allen as in 1889. In 1901 the Legislature pro- 
hibited the killing of pigeons for all time. Comment is unnecessary. 
The last bird I have seen recorded as killed in either the United States 
or Canada was taken near Babcock, Wis., in September, 1900.! Re- 
ports occasionally are received of the appearance of pigeons in some 
part of the country, and possibly there may be a few left; but natural- 
ists are offering large rewards for specimens, and thus far not a single 
bird has been secured. Probably the birds seen are Carolina doves. 
These doves, like the pigeons, once roamed over a large part of the 
continent, but never congregated in such large flocks, and, unlike 
the pigeon, they soon become gun-shy wherever they are hunted, 
although very tame where protected. They have thus escaped the 
fate of the pigeons, and a few are still found breeding in Massachusetts, 
while in the fall small flocks may be seen occasionally. They resemble 
1 Mershon, W. B. “The Passenger Pigeon,” p. 223. New York, 1907. 
