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Show a a. HKMIMAIU.Y everybody I 1 T knowa ty thtti time t li.it i I J I there In a eti.n.lliii! offer of ! IK I FJC H"U In mull fr the limn, I i llh.ls the hint at villi I'lK- JaasV rim (eotoplstoa tnlgrntorl-ust. tnlgrntorl-ust. otherwise known an -J the passenger pigeon, nhtl iaf finds with II Iho nestling blnls. In or.ler to gel the reward, tho person who makes tin- ilia-covery ilia-covery mum lenvn Iho neat ami the blrda unmolested anil prove Iho Iriith of It by making report anil giving the sol-enlists sol-enlists an opportunity tn verify tho casu Vagaxlno uiifl newspaper articles III-orally III-orally by tho IIioiioumlH have hen writ-Ion writ-Ion about the disappearance of the wild plgeona whic h mice, aa It la al wnya put, "darkened the aim with their fllghta." The members of tlio blnlogl-oal blnlogl-oal survey In WnsliDigloti aro specially Interested In Iho subject of tho disappearance disap-pearance of Ihla blnl of passage ftotn 11a llil haunts. For years It baa born hopotl that nesting palra might bo foutiil In iitno part of tho. country nml that with proper proloi'tlon tho blnl might be restored In part at leant to lia phu-a In nature. Ileeeiitly thoro was a story published to tho i fleet th.it Iho birds, wearied of tha constant persecution which mot tbom 111 Iho I'lillcl Slates, hml changed Iho course of their flrlil ami h.nl fimn Into MeJl.o ami tin re were living pea. c-fully c-fully and happily. Thla story proved lo bo absolutely without foundation. Still another tnlo . to tho ode t that tho pigeons h.i.1 . Into the I 1,411 or South Amerli-n ni. ro Unillng roinlltloiia pleasant wcro hading 11 11.111 migratory life. Ihla tale also proved to ho en-tlroly en-tlroly II. minus. In nil .irtn of Iho nouihern alalia In 1 tho whiter seasons thero aro people watching rharpeyed lor 11 glimpse of tho bird thai oneo wan n eontniou sight. In tlio aiiiutnor sharp oyea of Iho north aro constantly 011 iho alert for tho same ptirpoho, but aa yet no nuihentle report hua been received that iho blnl of myall mya-ll rlnua dlsnpponraticn haa revisited thn ! scenes familiar through I lie eeniurlea to lla nnroatora, Ono of tho scientists mnal Inleroatod In 'ho march for thn wild pigeon la lliiihvon lirano, fellow of tho American Oruiihologlsta' union and proalilcnt of tha Ulliiola Audubon Hoclcty fur the Protection of Wild Mlnln. Mr. lu-nne - -r.-r-virtually haa given up ull hopo that any J living aporlmon of the passenger plKoon ovor will be found, but he la na tlrelosa today aa over In IruiiiiK roporta of the blrd'a rooppoaranoo to tholr sources. The offer of lno for Iho dlaeovory of a I nratlnic pair or the plgeona and tholr I undlaturbod nut cornea from fllfton It. I Hodge of Clark university, but f luu ad- I dltlonal will be paid for thn discovery I of a pair of blrda and their nest If found I In Iho atalo of llllnola. Thn addliloiinl 1 reward la the Joint offer of Mr. lleiino I nd, aa I remember It, of 1'rofeaaor Whitman of 1 the llntvorally of Chicago. I One of the moat curloua foaiurea of tho aoarch for the wild pigeon la tho mlainkoa which j are mado constantly by men who yeura ago trapprd the pigeons and worn aa familiar with ' their appearance aa they worn, and nro today for that mutter, Willi tho appearance of thn com- ' mon robin of the dooryard. l(eiorta have romn I In from nil aoctlona of tha country of thn reap- pea ranee of thn pigeon, but on Investigation It Invariably boa been found that thn discoverer 1 hail aeen nothing morn nor less tlinn Iho com mon wild dove (veniililurn mneroural, or mourn- j Inn dove, which la an fiiinlllar n bird that It j aeema nlmoat Itnpoinlhle that any mnu of the S. eounlryaldn could have fulled to overlook It aa hla cnnsliint neighbor and could confute It wllh lla much larger eoiiHln, Iho paanoiiKcr pigeon of other duya. To give an example of how the Ben re h la conducted con-ducted for tho wild pigeon and how coiiHcientloua am thn eclpntlala In attempting to verify report ill of lla reappearance thla one IiihIiiiico, taken from I a hundred liiKtniicra, may be noted lleeenily a ii roiMirt from northern Michigan reached the preal- II dent of tho llllnola Audubon aoclely that thn I 1 paaaeiiKor plgi-on In very truth had reappi-ared In Iho vicinity of a club Iiouho freipiented by ttlahermen and Runncra, many of whom had known tho pigeon well In the old duya anil who worn certain that In thla cno Ihoy could not ho mlBtiiken aa to tho Idenllty of Iho bird vla-Itora. vla-Itora. 1 It waa a long Journey lo Iho northern Mlchl- Ran club bouao, but an oinlthologlHt uudertiHik the trip believing In hla heart that finally thn paaacngcr pigeon had been found, for hn know that tho men who had mailn the report had been familiar with thn bird In thn old duya and aup-' aup-' poaedly knew the nppenrancnof lla every feather. At tho end of Iho Journey ho waa told that tho plgnona were there and he waa led out to aoo them. They proved to be mourning dovea, a bird common In nearly all parta of Michigan and In moat of thn atutea of thn I'nlnii. The disappointment dis-appointment waa keen, and keener In thla caa bncauao thla waa one report which loomed to have about It every mark uf truth. When I waa a boy I know the wild pigeon fairly well. It waa nothing like aa abundant aa It had been In the years gone by, but occasionally occa-sionally small flocks worn aeen In I lie vicinity of my birthplace In tt-e foothllla of the Adirondack mountains In central New York. I am sorry to aay that I ahot some of the birds before I fully realised the value of giving protection to a van- i tailing race. Tho mourning dove I know aa well : aa 1 know thn Kngllnh sparrow, and 1 tljlnk that there la no chance of confusion In my mind respecting re-specting the Iduntltf of U10 dove and Ita bigger relative, the pigeon. It la posalble, though I am J not sure that such la a fftot, that 1 saw the last if j wild pigeon reported .In Illinois. Oibera may 1 j have boon aeen since that time within tha bor- j ' dert of the atate, but if ao I have not aeen their r J appearance reported. I j At five o'clock on the morning of a late April :, j (a, fifteen years ago, I went Into Unooln park, 1 S ' -3L ; : 0" AfxK te' JaM 1,1 Mr ''""""" 'l-'jVT 5r sV , "V 1 ' lb. 111. hut thai Y' l"' ,r "nrrmighn waa f 1 VI; ) -CJ- ''l'i''',lI.,,',,t'''',',V'nl'Vho 1 I Vi'i1 " "l'' ""u' s I T'l .HfiVr"' "V aponamrn and aupiMinod- nSl 1 know Iho bird well. sA VA'W J l'l..-v.-r. 'ben. o po. (f'A R?A"ttiA ll,v" l,r""' u"Uy "'" 1 Tt J- N, w v,"k tatmvn -e)r CV 4 P ' mmi era wore not Just as ( J if : ( li niucli nilriaken aa wer f-c-. fcJWifcP' Wyij '" old tlmcra who tolil s?r' iL Wf J, the alory of the return ol " r 1-1 'ft.f5r yl'-ij the plgoina to the uppei V Z25l '-(, SSX&'Jlh Vi A.-- " -" Mhhlgan country. AU- --'.' sti"? f "Ai.. In Thn Auk. a nunr -J.-a,. I Jj lerly Journal of ornlihol .J T.t" .lfe-I ogy publli-hed by lh ( C J '"' .A I - American Ornllliologlsls m'i. S'Jjrv VuTSv ' ! union, there recently ap -Qs VAi noared a miner by Alber Vir a Har.in Wright on Home s. i71 Karly Hcorda of the I'aa- - aenger rigeon." In Ihla vVCtV. paper are ri'liorted aome 10"' J I of the first account a -""" H,, which ever anw print of f tV1frV57 the pigeon muliltudoa of t the early days. When one reads lliom It aeems nl- Chicago, lo look for migrating birds which had dropped down lino tho plcanuro ground from tholr night flight In order to rest and feed. I had Juat entered tho park when my intention wua attracted to a largo bird perched on the Itmh of a maple tree and fuclng tho sun, which was Just rlnlng out of l.ako Michigan. My heart gave a aurt of leap, for I reinanlr.ed It Instantly aa thn passenger pigeon, a bird of which I had not seen a living specimen for at least twelve yean. Then Instantly I began to ilooltt and thought Unit my eea must bo mistaken and Hint the at Unisphere waa magnifying the bird and thai what wua beforti me waa really a mourning dove. I drew closer and then I knew thero wua no his-siblllly his-siblllly of deception. Ileforo mo waa a beautiful specimen of iho male passenger plgi'O'i with tho sun striking full on the burnished (ulliers of Ma throat. I stood within 15 yards a' the bird for fully half an hour and then It left 'ho maple and went In arrowy Might down the tfiko s! ore drive toward the heart of tho city. I have often wondered since what waa Its fate. Theodore Koosovclt la 'deeply Interested 111 the outcon c of the search for surviving members, mem-bers, If such there may be, of Iho passenger pigeon tribe. Mr. Itoosoveli know the bird when hn waa u boy and In his trips nlleld he alwaya haa kept .1 watchful ec open for a pin-Blblo sight of a specimen of the species now feared to bo extinct. When Mr. Hoosevelt was president of thn fulled Slates ho nceasloually went to a wild spot In Virginia where ho owned a cabin. Ho culled Iho place I'lno Knot. While thorn 0110 dny he saw what he believed to hn nine wild pigeons. It would be perfectly proper today for n man who saw as many pigeons aa Ihla together to shoot one of them one only In order to prove beyond peiadventuro that the tribe ait III hsa existence. ex-istence. When one ainiply reporta the nppear-alien nppear-alien of a pigeon or of a flock of plgeona everyone every-one doubta very naturally the truth of the tale, holding lhat thn mourning dovn haa been again mistaken for lla cousin bird. l'realdenl Hoosevelt did not have a gun with him on thn nrcuslon of hla meeting with what he thought were wild pigeons. If he had ho probably would huve shut 0110 of them. Hn told no one excopi a few adept 1st a and a few friends of his discovery. Ho knew aa well aa anyone else did that In tha absence of the proof furnished fur-nished by n bird In thn flesh It would be said at unce thai hn mnde the common error. No one knows positively today whether the nino birds which the president saw were or were not paa-aenger paa-aenger plgeona. Kvery time that Mr. Hoosevelt haa born lo I'lne Knot alnre he haa hoped for another sight of the birds which mud a him glad somn yeara ago. John llurrougha heard from his friend, Theodore Theo-dore Hoosevelt, that the nine plgeona had been aeen In Virginia, llurrougha believed the story because he knew bow accurate an observer of nature his friend the president waa and Is. The atorloa of the plgoona In Virginia led Mr. llurrougha llur-rougha to make Inquiries at once In the countlra-In countlra-In New York stale west of the lower Hudson lying In the old line of flight of the migrating pigeon armies of rs ago. There the farmera most Inoniile that a bird spcl.-a which num-tered num-tered Ha lullvlduiila almost. It would appear, by tin million ttllllons could ever disappear from the face of Ihoaarth. , Iho accwiit of the great pigeon Hocks which Is most ri.mlil.ir to the people or the eountry la thai wrlilei !.y John Jani.-a Audubon, the natural 1st. It sooas from Mr. Wright s paper, however, thttt n .eaitiy and n half before Audubon waa hern rooori were made of the immense numbers or thn blrdi which were soon III America. 1 he enillon nrltera called them turtle doves. Mr Wrlgh-! .pioles rnmi tho Jesuit father. I.o Jeillio. who in the year 137 likened the American Indiana Indi-ana lo the rim-one. "Our siivagea nrn ulwaya savage; sav-age; they irsembln the migratory birds of their own -o intry In one season turtle doves aro some-limes some-limes 1'iiiiid In auch nbtiiidunce that the end of ihelr army rannot be aeon when they nro. Hying in a body." Mr. Wrlgnt found another reference lo Iho Im sense Riimusra of tho plgeona In the writings or limit her .'.sill falhor In tho year l71. The 0)1 aervailon s made a I Cuyuga laku In New York stale. T-mr l.iiguoa from hem I saw by Iho aide of a river within a very limited space eight or nine exirniidy linn sail springs. Many snaies aro set Ihero 'or catching pigeons, from seven to eight hundred I elr.g otlon taken at once." Another lather la-ther of II." church In the latter part or Iho aouii-teentli aouii-teentli century writes or Hie passenger plgeona of tho HI. Iji-vreiteo country: "Among tho birds or every vailr'.r to be found here It la lo bo noted that pig. om abound In such numbers Hint tills year one inSa killed 132 ut a single shot." Wllliln lis) last flvo or alx years reporta have come of lbs reappearance or the pigeon in Missouri, Mis-souri, Oki'ibomn, Illinois, Wisconsin. Michigan, Ohio, l unsilvanta, Now York and Virginia mid perhaps froa some other states In no Instance has proof nen adduced that thn real passenger pigeon, Hie klrd of the old time, was the species seen. The disappearance of the flocks which once covered the iky as wllh a cloud la one of the nivs-1 nivs-1 lories 01' 111 tire. Man'a persecution or course hud much, ir not everything, to do with the annihilation annihila-tion or the ipeoloe, but It would aoem lhat annulling annul-ling else, dliease perhaps, must hn held accountable account-able nt l u"t In part for tho dying out or a noble race or rn.tlioied gamo. |