Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1894-01-26
THE PIGEON BOOSTS.
THEY USED TO BE so CROWDED
TREES WERE BROKEN DOWN.

A marty Of hn,,,r. .,,,, ,i..,,,..,, No.. I
~, a., -, ,..,1 =. {
- i.,t', .'' 80 wa ny '''s W u
'''N'nt 'ue UNIV gay "pput the
"a"PPvAENi'ue OF ehmo' -FOUR legged ana 1
winged, when they were suddenly inter
rupted BY Mr. W. Il. Donaldson. ono Of the
most enthusiastic Of their number. with
tue question:
did you ever SEQ anything 30 complete
ly disappear IA the wild pigooni There
isn't n 'roost Ia the United States today
and from what can understand thore IL
none on the North American continent
except II muy bo one or two small ones In
Canada,
Mention the pigeon "rooHt" to n young
hunter today, md he will ask You what
you mean lie has heard OF IL. aud
that ia about All And yet Mr.. Donald.
son aud those who hunted with him are
but In the prime OF life, mud they saw the
roosts In all their ginry In lew words,
the ruosta are, or rather were. places where
the pigeons cougrpgated IN almost lnnu
murnhle numbers aud Matched their young
They were formerly found IN all parts OF
the United States. They nro referred TO
by James Fenimore Cooper, particularly In
"Ihe Pioneers In the curly days they
were found 10 the east, lust ~ the early
settlers found the buffalo az the mouth Of
the st. Lawrence, even IN the frigid gono
And they have disappeared Just us tho buf
falo has disappeared
For their roosts, or Matching plnces, tho
pigeons always selected dense forest or
grove ia the most iiiy ,,cssihlc plsnce TO be
found There they would build their nest
and lay their eggs, and there they would
remain eight OF nine weeks by which
yuunp birds have heen able to ~ They
would come In locks OF hundreds aud thou
pnuds-sumc old tlmcrs Anv millions but
all the testimony goes TO show that they
never did any hurm that II war Of cxtermi
nation should have boon wagod against
them
The only harm worked by them WIS In
the brrakiur down OF trees. They roasted
in such numbers that limbs OF trees even
Of ousidetthls size were broken A grove
nfter their dpuartiiro looked ma n "A cyclone
hnd struck H. But the Groves they select
sd ,yt.rp al,ynya wild f,rofind They never
sele,ted ono an. ID ftrm,r's uropertv. As
for food. thcv ,vfre never Ike other birds.
They did not disturb the newly planted
or pro,ylpy cr,ps of grain Leaving their
roast. In the morning, they would tly long
distupce4-somo my hundreds of miles
In search Of such food IA they desired.
Eeturt,iu, az NIGHT. their yyhirrinp would
lound Ike the roll OF thunder. ln Digit
they were 80 dense IA TO aeam like "a cloud
obscurb.p the sight. They werc also or
ratio In 0irht syoopinr down lnndwnrl
and olrclinp nround frequently. Ia this
locality tber airht yns Hlyaya over the
ontal,irts Of the div MANY men who are
NOT vet very f,ir ndyapcpd In yenrg can tell
of having shot into these nocl.s FROM the
vicinity Of ,Ioffer.on avenue. hrinRing
dovn n dozt,n or two dozen birds NJ "A time.
rbese men were tbon schoolboys. Mr.
Dounldspu tolls OF mnuv tltnca he wont out
b,sor, breakfast returning for his morn
Inc menl An Tina 10 no 20 school. There
VIVA sport In this for tho boys. OF cnurae,
INIT very little for tho older hunters, who
enloved IA shot according OK II was difficult.
I,bern mover v,ng nnv snort nbout tho
r;scon roost- tbat IA. snort ma it ia defined
hy tbs gentleman huntpr This eports.
nnr. when no took a shot. wanted a bird
an the wing NO IL would hive a ehnnot
for its iife There Waqnlt really any no.
cossity Of firing gun into roost. When
tliry we're fired into, the only snort WINS IN
gcpiup how many birds could be killed al
once Ton TO fifteen was nothing UNUSUAL
y.I,uo oftsn N cnuple Of dozen might he
lrNuMht down. laUf To securing tilt
birds the pgc Of shot and powder was Il
v,aste A gool heavy club and strong nrm
smsice1 1be club thrown into a ire,
,youid hiring down the piveona like nuts
from n hickory tree A rev well directed
ciuh. thrown and tho ground would b,
covered with tbp ,end md II aimed birds
,I,ov,b no matter yybnt their number
r,i,,bt be thrv could not be missed from
,br limbs of Tho trees The roo.ts wnr,
,,Ist,sJ bv hunting notties 10 Ina sitre bul
mo-, Iar SNORT The hunter who hcnrd o.
; roost IN tho vicinity Of whore he NIGH
4 hnn,,.n IN he would ALWAYS yleit IL, but
g MI Yisif ,,na wholly ont Of curiosity. Ii,
nryays fotnd Tho country folk there from
$ lii, ,r,nnd hnt thpy aiso came from en-
j. ,'Ia.,,, ,rh.y dIdnit cnro for the birds
n hn, tSev entered ip,o the work Of slnurh
,Sr bist ne n IN, pigeons like the flies
J. 49,. ,,,i,ho,,t md Ms being and increase
$ M, never ma tbe I,nst Eden Tint th,
i 49, ,.o,,,d ,a,,,s when n pi,,eon mic woult
- min, of tbe nnst. ma h practically 4
80 Tbev oonld NOT Imagine tho tim
n ,'i',,, ,,i,,e,, or snu,,b would be a luxury
z "I i,, ,tass dsv. tbe plgoon Ind no market
4 The, NIGHT Ie worth a5 cents dozen
/ NY ~ ~, ,.,r,b tha,n purebnser mad /,
g sH' ,,,5 ,rt,,s he buit az tl,, aiauph
3 - ,,,r',. ,,,,r,. fed 10 tho hogs or left 4
70 IL t.t. 49, 10 t,pt,te hirt1a still Ii