Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1907-02-07
Wild Pigeons Return.

Lse PyiN 70 4iOAA va NNS "
the Lake Superior region indicate
that, after an absence Of 80 years,
wild pigeons, alec called passenger
pigeons because of the conspicuous
habit of passing from one part of the
country to another in immense hocks,
sometimes Guiding the sun In fight
are coming back to the forests OF
''the north country" Just where
these pretty birds Of passage have
kept themselves for a third of CEN
fury is not known, but the general
superstition is that they have been
breeding in the wooded and unsettled
regions of South America. The BOs-
ton Advertiser says woodsmen report
hun ireds of them along the Cloquet
river, in St. Lou county, and col.
onies have also appeared, 1t is said,
in the Wisconsin woods, north Of Su-
perior. Last spring flock was seen
IN Presque Isle Park, at Marquette,
Mich by the caretaker, who when a
young man had killed many of the
birds, and he recognized the species
at once.
Many middle.aged and elderly men
remembered the old days on their
farms in Minnesota or Michigan in
The Great Lakes region, when these
birds were 80 numerous that a boy
could kill hundreds in day with no
better weapon than a club.
In those days trapping the birds
for the market was regular business
with large number of men. Nets
were spread out in the stubble field
after the harvest. A few decoy pig
cons were placed here and there, just
as sportsmen now deaoy wild ducks
in the flight
Then, Iured by their kind, and
lavish sprinklIng of grain, the pigeons
would descend in thousands in the
net covered grounds A de1tsrous
sweep OF the net by experienced hands
would entrap the quarry.
The birds were served at hotels and
restaurants in the cities and were re-
garded as great dslicacy. In fact,
such great favor did this bird win
that squad raising has been a profit
able business since the departure of
the wild species years ago.
Stories about old settlers seeing
millions of passenger pigeons instead
OF thousands might seem somewhat
exaggerated, but early travellers in
the region of the Great Lakes have
remarked in their writings the enor-
nous numbers of these birds, which
required for their food great quaint
ties of grain.
Their food consisted mainly of the
smallest acorns and the thin-shelled
nuts, especially beech nuts, and
variety of berries and small fruits.
Where such material was plentiful
they gathered in vast congregations,
which thronged upon the trees until
the branches would break with their
weight.
Pigeon shooting was a favorite
amusem mt among sportsmen when
birds were plentiful. As many as
10000 birds were used at a single
tournament before public sentiment
and law checked the slaughter. The
incessant slaughter and persecution,
together with the clearing away Of
large areas of forest, rapidly drove
the pigeons out.
The disappearance Of the birds from
the lakes region was FASTENED by the
cold winters and late, stormy springs
between 1860 aud 1870. Since then
the wild pigeons have been known
only in scattered numbers here and
there, but their natural enemies are
now diminished and for some reason
they are coming back to tteir old
haunts.