El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-21
One Bird Survives Millions
Passenger Pigeon Contributes Re
Markable Story to Natures
Library.
D By Frederic }. Haskin
ASHINGTON, D. C., Fen.

passenger pigeon in the
! Cincinnati geological gardens-the last
/ survivor of a mighty host-has served
to call the attention of naturalists
again to one of the most remarkable
of all stories Of Natures library-the
/ extinction of one of the most remark
| able birds that ever inhabited the
earth. Millions of people are still HT-
ing whose eyes have witnessed the
! flight of the myriad hosts of passen-
ser pigeons, and yet only one of all
( the vast numbers of those pigeons
is known TO Survive-and that one
occupies a place of honor in the Gin
cinnati Zoo. When he dies it is prob
able that his body will be presented to
the nation, to be preserved in alcohoI
at the National Museum.
In these days it is hard for the
younger people to believe the story
Of the passenger pigeon, so 1ncredl-
bic were their numbers, so remark
able were their flights, and so strange
were their meetings And the story
of the brutality that marked the
work Of the pot hunters who followed
them as a tiger stalks his prey, re
lentlessly pursuing them. using the
telegraph to keep in touch with their
flights and their nestings, Is a story
of revolving cruelty and butchery.
AudubOn's Story of Birds
The world is indebted to John James
Audubon, the great naturalist for what
senger pigeon ever written. And his
truthfulness and scientific accuracy
make it a story to be accepted at Its
face value. He relates that IN the au-
tumn of 1918 he left his house at Hen
derson, on the banks of the Ohio, to 90
to Louisville. In passing over the bar
rens a few miles from Hardensburgh
he observed pigeons flying from the
northeast to the southwest, in greater
numbers than he had ever seen before
After they had been passing for about
an hour he dismOunted. seated himself
on an eminence. and made a dot with
a pencil for every flock that passed.
In a short time he found that he was
putting down dots at the rate of 1913
in p minutes. He resumed his journey
and still the pigeons came; the light Of
day was darkened as if by a solar
eclipse Like torrent, and with the
roar of distant thunder. they gathered
in a solid mass. darting forward with
the wings Of the wind in undulatng
and angular lines. deseending and
sweeping close to the earth, then
mounting perpendicularly so as to re-
semble a vast column, and when high
in the air once more, wheeling and
twisting within their continued lines,
which then resembled the coils of q
gigantic serpent.
Over Billion Pigeons In Flight.
For 45 miles Audubon Travelled on to
Louisville, with the serried columns OF
pigeons still floating over his head,
Each flock did exactly as the one ahead
had done; If the one ahead darUed down
when passing over a brook. or lodging
& hawk the flock behind did the same
Audubon attempted to estimate she
number of pigeons in that great flight
He assumed that the column averaged
q mile in width, which was far below
the average in point of fact. Then he
assumed that the birds flew at the rate
of so miles an hour, also a cOnserva-
tive assumption. Upon this basis the
pigeons passing in three hours would
form a streak $50 square miles in area,
and, counting two pigeons to the
square yard, there would be nearly
billion and a quarter pigeons in such a
flight How many there must nave
been in the three days flight he did
not undertakeetO say. Audubon's OBJ
servations were that each pigeon eats
fully a half a pint of food day The
pigeons in a three-hOur flight would
thus need nearly nine million bushels
of food q day.
ROOst Three Miles In Breadth.
Audubon made several pilgrimaSeS
to a famous rOOSung place on the /
banks of the Green river in kentucky- Z
He rode through the forest for upward
of 40 miles, and by crossing and re-
crossing it reached the conclusion that
the rOost was of an average breadth /
of three miles. His first view Of 1t
was about two weeks after the pig
cons had established It as a rOOSung
place He arrived about two hours
before sunset. Few pigeons were to be
seen, but there were great numbers CT
people, who. with horses and wagons
children and dogs, guns ana aumu-
milton, had established camps on the
borders of the forest. Two farmers
had driven more than 300 hogs over
100 miles to fatten them on pigeons
that were to be slaughtered. Here
and there were people engaged in (
plucking and sailing the catch Of the
day before. Many trees two feet in
diameter had been broken off by the
sheer weight of the multitudes Of
branches of forest mOnarchs were /
broken off, and the aspect Of the 1000 !
acres Of woodland was such as one |
might expect to be the result OF /
Rush of Birds Like Gale.
Some of the people who were camp /
ing there had great pots OF sulphur /
Others had poles, and others guns |
went up that the returning hOrdes |
We're approaching The noise they /
made reminded Audubon Of a hard gale /
at sea passing through the rigging Of a l
clOse-reefed vessel As they passed |
over his head he felt a current OF air /
that astonished him. Thousands Of /
birds were knocked down by the pole /
men, but tens Of thousands and even
millions continued to pour in They |
alighted eVeryW here, one above an
other. until masses as large as hogs
heads were formed on the branches all |
around. Here and there perches gave |
way under the weight with a crash, |
killing hundreds Of birds as they fell. /
Everything was uprOar and confusion.
Millions Slaughtered.
The people could not hear them
selves talking to one another, and
even the reports Of shOtguns and /
blunderbusses could not be heard |
above the great noise. Audubon sent |
a man out from the forest to see /
how far the noise could be heard, and /
it was plainly audible three miles dis
tant BY midnight the stream of ar /
rivals began to fall off, but before |
the break of day the advance guard /
began to move out again. While no /
one dared to go in the woods while |
the pigeons were in the trees, they
were able to kill and cripple enough /
of them to keep all the people busily /
employed next day, with enough left
over to give the 800 hogs. the wolves,
the foxes the lynXes, the cougars, |
bears, raccOOns, pOssums, pole cats.
eagles and hawks a more than salts
factory breakfast, and at the same /
time to save enough back for the Tul- |
lures that came to supplant the ami
mails and the birds of prey.
James FenimOre Cooper also saw the /
flights of the passenger pigeons, and /
he said that in a single flight he had !
seen enough birds to provision XerXe's |
army for a month and enough feathers /