Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1880-06-02

the phrase pigeons milk" two ex
pressive words frequently used with
out an idea of their meaning. On th,
return to the nest the squad puts it.
head into the parent birds mouth, anC
draws the milk direct from the crop
For twelve days are they fed on this
substance They are then as fat as
butter and as listless as toads at noon
day.
On the thirteenth day they receive
their last meal from the bills of the
old birds. Their throats are packed
with beech Iuts, and they are left to
their own resources. The toms and
hens arise from the tops of the trees
like agreat cloud, and are quickly lost to
sight. The squads lie blinking in
their nests for hours. On finding
themselves deserted, they toddle to
the rims of their baskets and balance
themselves. After a preliminary fut-
ter of the wings they strike out for a
limb, reach it, lose their equilibrium,
and tumble to the ground They then
wander about like drunken men for
three or four days ere they know
enough to seek food or water. Fully
a week elapses before they are in good
flying condition When they become
lean they readily take wing, and skir-
mish for themselves. Their wing
feathers grow much faster than the
feathers in their tails, and when flying
this gives them ludicrous appearance
They resemble boys in monkey jackets
A lack of tail feathers sends them
rudderless through the air They are
forced to fly in straight line, swerv-
ing gently between the trees. On
alighting they frequently pitch heels
over head, and appear dumfounded
At first they form small focks, but as
they grow stronger of wing these
focks come together, and the downy
brigade pitches for a good feeding
ground. Either inst" 1t or some kind
hearted old bird points the way, for
veteran pigeon hunters say that flock
of squads invariably finds the best
feed.
The parent birds nest anew within
few miles of the old place. If the
beech nuts hold out they nest three
times before summer. After the third
nesting the myriad disbands and is
scattered over the country In au-
tumn they are found in the woods
from Maine to Texas and from Wash
ington Territory to Georgia. A very
few mate and nest in odd places in the
summer All however, reunite in a
grand army about the beginning of the
new year This flock nested in Forest
county in 1878, 1871 and 1867. Last
year they nested in the Indian Terri
tory, where there was superabund-
ance of acorns. A great crop of
beech nuts is usually followed by
large crop of acorns. The two crops
seldom grow in the same year. These
facts are derived from professional
pigeon hunters, who also assert that
three immense focks of the birds are
now nesting in the United States
one in Missouri, second in Michigan,
and third in Forest county.
The professional pigeon hunter is
keen-eyed, bronze-faced, and hard
handed. He usually chews tobacco,
drinks whisky, and INDUCES in pro-
family. He wears black sombrero, a
cassimer suit, and thick-soled boots.
He is slouchy and reserved, and not
particularly communicative. Once get
on the inside of him, however, and
you will fine him genial and generous
Sixteen years ago he made from $500
to $4,000 net in a nesting season.
Now he finds his receipts cut down
by local catchers-men who were at
first hired to assist him in spreading
nets, but who have learned the calling
and have gone into business on their
own account Ten years ago there
were from thirty to forty professional
pigeon trappers in the United States.
They did nothing else. The number
has been reduced until it includes
Messrs. Ackerman and Jones at Co.
lumbus, Ohio; Haycock and Cadmus
of Geneva, Ohio Paxon of some town
near Buffalo; Custen of Roanoke,
Ohio; Little of Cartersburg, Indiana,
and T. L. Utley of Neenah, Wisconsin.
Mr.. Ackerman is the oldest pigeon
catcher in the country. He has been
at the business over forty years
~ have been in the business for
nearly twenty years." says Mr.. Utley.
Sixteen years ago l was trapping
birds at this very roost We trap for
the market, and make more money out
of them when game and poultry are
scarce than at other times. l have fol-
lowed this flight of birds for years.
Professional trappers know all the
roosts, and keep each other posted by
telegraph. The birds are hardly set
tied at roost before the trappers are
after them with a supply of nets.
Their flight is swift. / have known
them to leave Wisconsin in the morn
ing and roost here the same night
The nesting in Michigan is fully as
large as this one. That in Missouri is
much smaller. In the former they live
on beech nuts, and in the latter on
acorns. From my experience l should
say that there are only two large focks
in the country. 1t would be as difficult
to estimate their number as it was to
estimate the number of buffalo in a
herd on the plains fifty years ago.
There are at least 1000, 900, 900 in this
flock, and probably many more. Those
trapped and killed are like pinch of
grain taken from an elevator. When
one of the two great flocks comes from
the northwest it hugs the shores of the
lakes, and then drives in straight
line for the roost 1 have seen solid
sheets of birds, five miles wide and two
hundred and seventy miles long, skirt
ing the shores of Lake Huron and
Michigan. They were three hours in
passing a given point. They will not
cross the lakes if they can avoid it, be-
cause they are apt to either lose their