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Show ,wrVv . PA I&SfftV -c r fvvr'w ) r ,,mn,r-v IcrCrr.Z. JJ bj'.tfL ( J men told Mr. Ilurroughs 'rtWCo3 L that they had seen .lg- 'K t? tSZirSctiS - V ", eons thet sprint, at b ast XOr imne rf tlem had been ri -4vVjiC', hot. Mr. Iliirrcjiichs was H'th-M1'' ) liKliii' d to Im lieve the re- V- "'til'ty- f--' port, for th men who Vi V' j Sftgfy li'fr rptirtunin and supposed .Jj Y5lMTOj I.V knew tl;e l.lrd well. ra(ryi llov ever. Il.eie Is no pos '4 V?A,'''Ji''? lllv' ,,r""f "";',y "'at ,h" i r-y''mW 1 N,'w Yolk fi''""'r" nn'' WjJ Vil''ity guiiiMTa were not Just hs C T.?t'i-V'tfLs ittft mueli mlsiak.-n as were UiMt- ('J "", o'd t iuiers who told ' . k the story of the return of , 'T WZ flLr r"' the pigeons to the upper V j?5'v r-ZLf- XZZffifi' Ml'hlgn country . -L& I 5vr'' Ury J"1"'"11' of ornlthol- ) JZi"-1. (3rr? ot;-v lirI by the "" VL. J -T,. American Ornithologists' TVU S7 'V-r" union, there recently ap- "JVfNj pea red a paper by Albert C-V'v'4'r.VJ Ha?,rn Wright on "Some " fZAA scnger I'lgeon." In this - "!r paper are reported some t lKvCr J of the first accounts v -" "L- which ever saw print of y" Xirr:flCJ " ,," P'geon multitudes of r y the early days. When one rends tiiem It seems 111- . . ..I . . .. 1. 1 ..I. (utm. 1 IfV RKSUMAHLY everybody knows by this time that ,1 tnere u a atandlng offer of Iff $100 In cash for the man, woman, boy or glr4 who ! finds the nest of a wild pig-eon pig-eon (ectoplstes mlgratorl-us), mlgratorl-us), otherwise knowu as k a. I the passenger pigeon, and KV nnrfs with it the nestling birds. In order to net the reward the person who n:akes the discovery dis-covery must leave the nest and the birds unmolested and prove tho truth of It by making a report und giving the scl- -enlists an opportunity to verify the case. -"J'" Magazine and newspaper articles lit-crully lit-crully by the thousands have been writ-ten writ-ten about the disappearance of the wild pigeons which once, as it Is al ways put, "darkened the Bun with their flights." The numbers of the biological biologi-cal survey in Washington are specially Interested in the subject of the disappearance disap-pearance of this bird of passage from Its wild haunts. For years it has been hoped that nesting pairs might be found In some part of the country and that with proper protection the bird might be restored In part at least to Its place In nature. Recently there was a story published to the effect that the blrda, wearied of the constant persecution which met them In the United States, had changed the course of their flight and had gone Into Mexico and there weie living peacefully peace-fully and happily. This story proved to be absolutely without foundation. Still another tale was to the effect that tho pigeons had gone Into the heart of South America and there finding conditions pleasant were lending a non-migratory life. This tale also proved to be entirely en-tirely fictitious. In oil parts of the southern states in the winter seasons there are people watching sharp-eyed for a glimpse of the bird that once was a common sight. In the summer sharp eyes of the north are constantly on the alert for the same purpose, but as yet no authentic report iius been received that the bird of mysterious mys-terious disappearance has revisited the scenes familiar through the centuries to Its ancestors. One of the scientists most Interested In he search for the wild pigeon Is Hu.hven Deane, fellow of the American Ornithologists' union and president of the Illinois Audubon Society for the Protection of Wild Pirds. Mr. Deane --j virtually has given up all hope that any living specimen of the passenger pigeon ever will be found, but he Is as tireless today as ever In tracing reports of the bird's reappearance to their sources. The offer of 400 for the discovery of a nesting pair of the pigeons and their undisturbed nest conies from Clirton IL Hodge of Clark university, but $100 additional ad-ditional will be paid for the discovery of a pair of birds and their nest if found In tho state of Illinois. The additional reward Is the Joint offer of Mr. Deane and, as I remember It, of Professor Whitman of the University of Chicago. One of the most curious features of the search for the wild pigeon Is the mistakes which arc made constantly by men who years ago trapped the pigeons and were as familiar with thtlr appearance as they were, and are today for that matter, with the appearance of the common com-mon robin of the dooryard. Reports have come In from nil sections of the country of the reappearance reap-pearance of the pigeon, but on Investigation It invariably has been found that the discoverers had seen nothing n ore nor less than the common com-mon wild dove ( venaldura maeroura), or mourning mourn-ing dove, which Is so familiar a bird tlmt it stems almost Impossible that any man of the countryside could have failed to overlook It as his constant neighbor and could confuse It with Its much Iprger cousin, the passenger pigeon of other days. To she an example of how the search Is conducted con-ducted for the wild pigeon and how conscientious are the scientists in attempting to verify reports of its reappearance this one Instance, taken from a hundred Instances, n ay be noted. Recently a report from northern Michigan reached the president presi-dent of the Illinois Audubon society that the passenger pigeon In very truth had reappeared In the vicinity of a club house frequented by fishermen and gunners, many of whom had known the pigeon well In the old days and who were certain that In this case they could not be mistaken as to the Identity of the bird visitors. vis-itors. It was a long Journey to the northern Mlchl-pan Mlchl-pan club house, but an ornltholoiOst undertook tho trip believing In his heart that finally the passenger pigeon had been found, for he knew that tho men who had made the report hud been familiar with tie bird In the old days nnd supposedly sup-posedly knew the appearance of lis every feather. At the end of the Journey he was told that the pigeons were there and he was led out to see them. They prmed to be nititirnlng doves, a bird common In nearly all parts of Michigan and In most of the statet of the Union. The dl-' dl-' appointment wos keen, and keener in this ea 1 because this was one r;ort which Feemed to 1 have about It every mark of tr;th. 1 When 1 was a boy 1 k'iw the v .i pigeon I fairly wIl It w n nothing We a abundant as It had bcn In the years siie bj . but occa-r occa-r j slonally small tl( k were e u In the vicinity of . j my birthplace in tie foothills or the Adirondack i mountains In central New York. I am sorry o j nay that I shot son e f the birds tufore I fully realised ti c a!ue cf giv'r.g rr"'eeiion to a van t Ishing rsee. The nwnirniiiK dove I know a well ss I know the F.ntl.ih sparrow, and I think that r there Is no ihnace of confusion In my mind re-f re-f spectlng the identity of the dove and its blguer , relative, the pleeon. It Is possible, thouch I am not sure that such I a fact, that I saw the last wild piseon r ported In Illinois. Others fr ay bsve been seen tln'-e that time within the bor-r bor-r der of the state, but If so I have not seen their appearance reported. , At Ave o'clock on the morning of a late April , tar, fifteen fr ago. I went Into Lincoln park. most Incredible that a mru n bend its Individuals almost. It would appear by ttte million millions could ever disappear from the fre of the earth. , , , , The ac-ount of the great pigeon flocks which la most familiar to the people of the country Is that written by John James Audubon, the natural 1st ft seems from Mr. Wright s paper, howev.r, tlmt e century and a half before Audubon was hern reeords were made of the. Immense numbers of the birds v.hbh were seen In America. Th earlieft writers culled them turtle doves. Mr. Wiigh quotes from the Jesuit father. Le Jetitte. who If the year 1C37 liken, d the American Indians Indi-ans o the pigeons. "Our savaccs are always sav-8j.-e; tfey resemble the migratory ,,lnl ,lf 'r own o'.ntry. In one uttson turtle dov s are k trie-times trie-times l iund In such abundance that the end of their army cannot be s en when they are fljing in a bodv." Mr. Wright found another reference to the 1m-setise 1m-setise number of the pigeons in the writings of another esult father in 'he vrr I'iTl. Tie eh-serve. eh-serve. tlon was made at 'av.r: ! V In New York state. "Ftjur luigues from hue 1 saw by the side or a rher within a very limited rpneo clsht or nine extn truly fine suit spring. Many snaies are set there 'or cntchiiu' pii-eons. from seven to eight hundred I Ing often taken r.t once." Another father fa-ther of lh- church In the lattr-r part ol the M;ven-tecnth M;ven-tecnth century writes of the passenger pieetrm of the St. Laurence country: "Among the birds of every v.nif'.y to be found here ! Is to be noted that pigeotn r.boitnd In stub numbers ih.it this year one mm killed 132 at a single shot." Within the last five or six years reports have come of the reappearane'e of the pigeon In Missouri, Mis-souri, Oklnlonm, Illinois. Wisconsin. Michigan, Ohio. IVnnslvHiila, New York and Virginia and perhaps frort some other s'a'e In nei instance has proof been aMii'td that the real p:isseneer pigeon, the b'-rd of the old time, was the species seen. The d!f appe itrance of pe flock whi'h once covered the- Kky as with a cloud Is one etf the lavs-terl lavs-terl s eif nature. Mini's perse-e-uMon of e ourpe liad mudi. If not everything, to !o with the nimihila-tioe nimihila-tioe of the spe-cie. but It weinl l se e in that som-!!rg som-!!rg !: c, d!" are pe r' nps, t'i't't be held ae-count-able at 1 :ix' !:i part for the dying out eif a liobl rae e of fi .-it '" "d I at:i". Chicago, to look for migrating birds which had dropped down into the pleasure ground from their night flight In order to rest and feed. I had Just entered the park when my attention was attracted to a large bird perched on the limb of a maple tree and facing the sun, which was Just rising out of Lake Michigan. My heart gave a sort of leap, for I recognized It Instantly as the passenger plge-on, a bird of which I had not seen a living spei-imen for at least twelve- years Then Instantly 1 began to doubt and theiught that my eyes must be mistaken and that th'- i t-mosphe t-mosphe re was magnifying tint bird ami thai what was before me was ntily a mourning dove. I drew closer and then I knew there vhs no possibility pos-sibility of deception. Ilefo.e me was beautiful specimen of the male passenger plgeo'i with the sun striking full on the burnished ("jiilierB of his throat. I stood within 10 yards c' (he bird for fully half on hour and then It h ft 'he matde and went In arrowy flight deiw n the K We s! orej drive toward the heart of the eity. 1 have often wondered since what was Its fate. Theodore Roosevelt Is de-eply Interested In the outcome of the search for surviving meni-bers, meni-bers, if such the re may be, of the passe ngcr pige oa tribe. Mr. Rooseel' knew the bird when he was a boy and in his trips afield ho always hB kept a watchful f)c open for a possible sight of a specimen of the specie- now fearcel to be extlne t. When Mr. Roosevelt wa president of the United States he occasionally went to a wild spot in Virginia where he owned a cabin, lie called the place Pine Kneit. W hile there one day he saw what he believed to be nine wild p.geons. It would be perfectly proper today for a man who saw ss many plge-on as this together to sl eH.t one of the m -one only In order to prove beyond p : ,o! e r.ture that the tribe still hss existence ex-istence When one simply reports the npear ame of a pl; e-ein or eif a foe k of plgeoni; eve ry eu.e doubts f-ry iiaMirully the truth if the trip', holeling t!.;.t the mourning dove has been again mistaken for Itn cousin btrd. President Kiosev-lt tild not hav a gun with him on the ocarlori of h'.s m""lng with what he thought were wild pigeons. If he had he probr-bly would I sivr slot r e of firm. He told no one . f,,i n ! sciei.i st.-e "lid a few frle i ds ef lis discover). He kt an w'l si anyone e ls dill that III ti e ah: nee eif the preiof flT-tilihed flT-tilihed b) n bird in the t i it would be said emce that 1 e m..di' 'he common error. No eir.e knows pe-sitiv. lv lex'jy whether the nine birels vhich the prestdMit raw were or were not passenger pas-senger pigeons Kvery lime that Mr. Keciseve It has be-e n to line Knot sinco l e has hop'd for another sight of the bird which n.ade him glad tw. me years sro. John liurriiiigiis heard from his frie-nd. Theo-Jere Theo-Jere ReKisevelt. that the nine pigeons had been seen In Virginia. I'urrouKha Iw-Heved 'he story b-ause he knew how aceurate an observer of nature his friend the preldent was and Is. Tbe storte of the pigeona In Virginia led Mr. Pur roughs to n ake inquiries at once In the countie s In New York smte west of the lower Hudson lying In the eld line of fight of the migrating pigeon armies of rs sgo. 1 here tie fanner |