Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1881-05-05
Pigeons.

That's the only bird that ever O. Gated a
boom,' park keeper said, referring to a
tino large blue bird with an immense crown
of feathers waving on his head.
How soG'
Because that's the only sound 1t makes.
II you didn't see 1t you would thi nk some
one had struck bass drum quarter of q
mile away. Its regular toom-boom, and
when Il makes the noise IL bows its head,
so that the crown sweeps the ground. It's
the crowned pigeon from New Zealand,
al between this cage and the stuffed birds
in the museum we can show nearly every
pigeon in the world, and you'd be as
tonished TO see how many different kinds
there are. We have pouters, fan-tails,
nuns, carriers, and all the fancy breeds
alive, besides wood-doves, and this crowned
fellow, and occasionally we have a big
flock OF wild pigeons here, but the spar
rows drive them of. You wouldn't think
big bird like pigeon would run from
sparrow, but they do. The little birds
collect in the trees in crowds, and when q
dock of pigeons comes sweeping over they
make rush for them in a body, and take
right hold, tooth and nail, and as the
pigeons sweep down 10 get out of the way
they are literally chased out OF the park.
In the pigeon Case in the museum are
some of the bones of that extinct and
much -maligned bird, the dodo, the giant OF
pigeons, being the only specimen In the
country. Two hundred and fifty years
ago they were found in the Mauritius
Islands in great quantities. 1t was q curious
bIrd-as large as a swan. The bill in the
case is not unpigeonlike, though one
hundred times the size of its modern repre-
sentative. They were sluggish birds, un-
able to fly, and laid a single egg about the
size of q turkeys. Brontius, an old Dutch
writer OF the period, gives the following
quaint account of them: 'Ihe dronte, or
doddoTs, is, for hgness, of mean size, be-
tween an ostrich and turkey, from which
1t partly differs IN shape and partly agrees
with them, especially with the African
ostrlches, if you consider the rump quilts,
and feathers, so that it was like plgmy
among them, if you regard shortness of
legs. Ii hath great ill-favored head, with
a kind of membrane resembling q hood:
great black eyes; a bending, prominent
tat neck; an extraordinary long, strong,
blue-white bill, only the end Of each
mandible are different in cOlor-thAt Of the
upper black, that of the neither yellowish
both sharp pointed andcrooked; its cape
huge, wide, as being naturally voraclOus.
Its body is fat and round, covered with
soft gray feathers, after the manner of an
ostrich s, on each side. Instead Of hard
wing feathers, or qullls, it is furnished with
small soft-feathered wings OF yellowish
ash color, aud behind the rump, instead of
a tail, is adorned with five small curled
feathers of the same co.or. -Four toes ON
each foot-solid, long, as it were, really
armed with strong black claws They
were at one time SO plentiful that they
were lied for The stones that were found
In their stomachs, and on which the sailors
sharpened their knives.
AnCtler queer pigeon that lived at that
time, and which is now extinct, is the soil
Iar. IL was found on the Island of
Rodriguez. Ii was larger than q turkey,
and in general respects resembled the dodo.
Another was the Nazarene, that was twice
as large as the dodo, But the most re-
markaDle was the didunculus, q living
relative, and closely allied TO the dodo. Inc
bird was rather larger than our common
par ridge, and possessed the curious naked
skin surrounding the eyes which character
ICED its ancestor.
One of The finest of the thirty or more
different species of pigeons IL the Oceanic
fruit bird of the Pelen Islands They are
found in thousands, feeding on nutmegs.
They become very fat, and the fat, which
has strong flavor of the nutmegs, is coz
sIdered u great dainty by many. 1t is said
that they grow so tat that when shot they
fail on the ground, and are shattered 10
pieces by the fall. Not only are they
valuable as means of subsistence, but
they seem 10 have been appointed to help
carve out one Of the great laws Of nature.
Ii Is q well-known tact that the nutmeg
has 10 pass through some chemical pro-
cess before 1t will grow, and In the stomach
OF these birds the nutmeg is prepared for
reproduction.
Among this family of birds the passenger
pigeon Is one or the most wonderful.
Wilson'S description Of their camping
grounds is: AS oon ts the y.ulg were
IulIy grown, and before they lett their
nests numerous of the inhabitants from
all parts of the country came with wagons,
oxen, beds, cooking utensils, many OF
Them accompanied by the greater p&rt OF
their families, and encampOd for several
days at this immense nursery. Several OF
them informed me that the noise iii the
woods was SO great as to terrify their
horses, and that it was difficult lor one
person to hear another speak without bawl-
ing in his ear. The ground was strewn
with branches, broken limbs, eggs, and
young sous 40 pigeons, which had been pre-
ciplLated from above, and on which herds
OF hogs were fattenIng. Hawke, buzzaTds
and eagles were sailing about in great num-
Ders, and seizing the squads from their
nests at pleasure, while from twenty feet
upward 10 the top OF the trees the view
through the trees presented perpetual
tumult of crowdlng and huttering multi
tudes of pigeons, their wings roaring like
thunder, mingled with the frequent crash
OF falling trees. 1t is utterly impossible
to estimate the number that cOngregate to-
gether. On some trees more than three
hundred nests were found, and the branches
were continually falling, owing to the
weight of the d birds. The am0un n
sumed 10y hocA OF t. g. Lids q wonder
ful. Wilson calculates that, taking the
br sd OF column Of geons he saw tol %
OILY one m.le, its length 10 be two hun
d ed and fr y miles, and to contain On y
lnree pigeons In each square yard Qaking
no 90 olnt Of The several strata OF birds