The daily gazette., 1880-06-04
Passenger Pigeon Roosts.
SOME INTERESTING FACTS REGARD
ING THE HABITS OF THE BIRDS.

Kane and 100 miles south of Buffalo
in direct line. The roads leading
thereto are rough, and pass through
an almost unbroken wilderness. Not
more then ten persons live within
the boundaries of the nesting. There
is an abundance of beech trees there,
which bear a crop irregularly, and
never two years in succession. This
nut has a burr which is cracked by
the first frost, when the nut drops to
the ground, and under a covering
Of snow retains its sweetness until
spring.
The condition of the crop seems to
be studied by small scouting parties
of pigeons in the fall, and they lead
on the others in the spring. The
first to arrive at the Forest county
nesting this year came in the latter
part of February, and they were fol-
lowed quickly by others. They beat
the light snow from the ground with
their wings and gathered into their
crops the rich nuts. Myriads of
birds poured into the roost for the
next fortnight. They came inIfocks
that stretched from HORIZON to hori-
zon. At night over five square
miles of trees were filled with these
birds. At times the branches were
broken by their weight. Farmers
and others visited the roost with
torches and dubbed hundreds from
the lower branches of the trees with
long poles.
While sojourning at the roost the
pigeons mate. The mating lasts
several days, during which time the
forests resound with with love-mak-
ing. The tom is all attention and
the hen all affection. He brings her
the choicest delicacies, and she re-
wards him with kisses. Nesting
begins soon after mating, but the
birds never nest at the roost, The
nests are rude, and made in leahess,
hardwood trees, about twenty miles
from the roost. A hen seldom lays
more than one egg, and during incu-
baton the tom and hen alternate in
household duties. There are 20 to
80 nests in a tree, and each family
strictly attends to its own business.
Each tom feeds his own wife and
none other. If a hen loses her hus-
band she gets no outside help, and
must search for food and raise her
squad as best she can.
The egg matches in thirteen days,
and the nest is never deserted until
the squad is grown. The tom shelf
ers the squad from 8 a. m. to p. M,
and the hen does the same the rest Of
the time. At night the tom roosts
near by. In cold weather the young
ster is fed three times a day, and If
the days are warm they are allowed
one or two lunches in addition to their
regular meals. In Forest county old
birds were flying from thirty to forty
miles in search of food. When nuts
are scarce they journey over hundred
miles, flying at the rate of about nine
ty-five miles an hour. The action Of
their wings churns the food into q curd
resembling boiled rice, and it is this
which gives rise to the expression,
ePigeon's Milk" The SQUAD puts it's
beak into the parent birds mouth, and
draws this milk, or chyle, direct from
the crop. For twelve days they are
fed in this manner, when they become
as fat as butter and as listless as
toads.
On the thirteenth day they receive
their last meal from the bills of the old
birds. Their throats are packed with
beech nuts and they are left to their
own resources. The toms and hens
arise from the tops of the trees like a
great cloud and are quickly lost to
sight. The squads lie blinking in the
nests for several hours, and, finding
themselves deserted, hutter ON to a
limb, lose their balance and tumble to
the ground. Here they toddle about
for some time before they begin to
look for food or drink. Fully week
elapses before they are i'll good flying
condition. When they become lean
they readily take to wing and forage
for themselves. The tail feathers
grow very slow, and, without tails, they
fly rudderless through the air, present.
ing very ludicrous appearance. On
alighting they frequently pitch heels
over head. At first they form in small
focks, but finally unite and pitch for
some good feeding ground. The par
ent birds nest anew within few miles
of the old place, and if the beech nuts
hold out they nest three times before
summer. After the third nesting they
disappear and scatter over the country.
In autumn they are found in the woods
from Maine to Texas and from Wash
ington Territory to Georgia. All,
however, unite in a grand army about
the beginning of the new year.
This flock nested in Forrest county in
1867, 1871 and 1878. Last year they
nested in the Indian Territory, where
there was an abundance of acorns. A
great crop of beech nuts is usually fol-
lowed by large acorn crop. The two
crops seldom grow in the same year. Old
hunters assert that three immense fiocks
are now nesting in the United Sites, one
In Missouri, second in Michigan and a
third in Forest county.
The professional pigeon hunter is
bronzed, hardy individual. Sixteen years
ago he made from $500 to $4,000, net, in
nesting season, but the profits are not
near so good now; because local catchers
Interfere. Ten years ago there were
from thirty to fourty professional hunt
eas in the United States, who did nothing
else. They are now reduced TO nine.
| Tbey know the roosts and keep each
other posted by tel graph. The birds
are hardly settled before the trappsrs are
after them with nels. The Forest county
flock is estimated at 100000, but of
course, that is the merest guess work.
| Mr.. Utley, an old trapper, is now Il app