|William Dutcher

“ Today the Wild Pigeon is so rare that the observation of a single individual is considered noteworthy.
The species continued abundant until about 1860, when, as a result of increasing slaughter for food, it began rapidly to diminish in numbers, and no large flock has been recorded since 1888. Frank M. Chapman tells me that as late as July, 1881. he saw Wild Pigeons used in large numbers at a trap-shooting tournament held near New York City. The birds had been netted in the West and were often so helpless from their confinement in foul cages that they were unable to fly. ”

“ The Pigeon, however, is much larger, the adult male is much pinker below, and in both sexes of the Pigeon the rump is bluish slate instead of brownish as in the Dove, while the Pigeon‘s outer tail-feathers are broadly tipped with white and the Dove‘s more narrowly with gray. ”

“ How does the male differ from the female? How do the young differ from the adults? In what respect does the Pigeon differ from the Mourning Dove? How many Pigeons were estimated by Wilson to be contained in one flock? ”

“ Wilson mentions a nesting colony which was several miles in breadth and upwards of forty miles in extent! The birds chose preferably beech woods. and as many as ninety nests have been counted in a single tree. The flock previously mentioned, estimated to contain over two billion individuals, stretched from horizon to horizon, as far as the eye could reach in every direction, and was four hours in passing a given point. At all seasons, whether migrating. roosting or nesting. Pigeons were subject to attack by man. ”

“ This egg I replaced in the nest by lifting it with the broad end of the boat oar. thinking, perhaps, that handling it might cause the Loon to desert the nest. The egg that was in the water was many shades lighter in color than the one found in the nest, which leads me to believe that the eggs of birds that habitually breed in damp mud nests acquire a darker color from stains. ”

“ Young,—Young birds of both sexes resemble in plumage the adult female, but the feathers of the crown, foreback, sides of the breast and sides of the neck, the wing-coverts and tertials are tipped with whitish or brownish, the primaries are broadly edged and tipped with rusty brown, the outer tail-feathers are grayish. ”

“ Today an occasional individual is observed at intervals in the Atlantic States, and in the middle and upper Mississippi Valley they are seen more frequently. Reports of their presence in large numbers on the Pacific coast or in various parts of the tropics prove to be based on other species of Pigeons. ”