Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-12-27
THE HASKIN LETTER
WILD PIGEONS
~ Frederic j.. Haskin.

That there is no such thing as a wild
pigeon in the United States any more
is an idea which seems to be widely
entertained in this country, and
which Is wholly erroneous, according
to the ornithologists.
The fact offthe matter is that the
passenger pigeon, which was once
phenomenally abundant IN the
western United States. is extinct; but
there are at least three species of
wild pigeons found today within the
United States. All three of them are
little known, despite the fact that
one of them is distributed, in a
sparse and scattering manner, yer
a good part of the West.
For some reason, the wild pigeon
Is an object of exceptional popular
interest. IL one may Judge by the
number of questions that come to an
information bureau about 1t, and
the number of newspaper and mag
azine articles that have been written
on the subject.
Nearly every American now knows
something of the tragic and mystic
rious history of the passenger pig
con. which so or 20 years g dark
ened the sky with its vast fiocks,
killed whole forests by using them
as roosting places. and glutted
American markets with its flesh. IL
is believed by scientists that the
slaughter of the pigeons did not
alone account for their complete and
sudden disappearance along in the
eighties. but that some other factor,
which las never been explained,
mus have had a part in II.
All of this has been often recited.
The passenger pigeon has been given
a great deal of publicity, while the
other American wild pigeons are al
most unknown to the general public.
Another Wild Pigeon
The most important of these is the
band tailed pigeon, which occurs in
a scattered and unaccountable way
all over the Rocky Mountain coun-
try and west TO the Pacific Coast.
The center of abundance is said to
be at the mouth of the Columbia
River. and people who live in that
section ire probably familiar with
the birds. but most persons, even in
states where they are found, never
saw one.
The band-tailed pigeon is a true
pigeon. II is a good deal more like
the average mans idea of a pigeon
the passenger pigeon was, be-
cause 1t belongs to the same genus
as the domestic pigeon. We have
seen this bird. and 1t looks exactly
like a big blue domestic pigeon. 1t
the same way. and when it rises
makes the same loud clapping sound
with the wings. 1t has the very Pc
culiar habit of carrying its light nest
of twigs with it when frightened
during the nesting season. This
fabulous, but is attested by
Government scientists. 1t grasps
the nest and eggs between the legs.
merely a single egg Is
carried in this way.
his pigeon has a way of appear
ing suddenly in large focks where
good crops of acorns. its favorite
food, are found. For years after
ward. IL there are few acorns. not
a bird may appear.
Down in the Keys of Florida they
have another wild pigeon known as
white-crowned pigeon. 1t is
and extremely shy. the reason
being that 1t is one of the most
Loothsome OF birds. A native in
Key West told us last winter that
Turing the tourist season as high as
.hree dollars each is paid for the
birds. 1t probably has a hard life.
A third wild pigeon comes into the
Jnited States along the Rio Grande
the Mexican border. 1t is called
red-billed pigeon. and is a large
bird of excellent table qualities.
Pigeons are distributed all over
world, and they make a most in
teresting study. because they illus
so aptly the way in which en-
vironment affects the development
Of living creatures.
Thus, it is not generally known
the dodo was a great flightless
pigeon. In fact, although the word
dodo has become a part of our slang,
very few people know what it means.
The Death of the Dodo
The dodo was as big as a swan,
and could nc more fly than an os-
trich; yet it was a true pigeon. 1t
developed it's peculiar physical char
because it lived in certain
of the South Seas, where it
had no natural enemies. II grew
fat. clumsy and f1ightless, be-
cause it had no necessity for being
some enemies when the Dutch dis
covered the island of Mauritius.
was its home. The Dutch sail
ors ran it down on foot, killed it with
clubs, and ate it with great gusto.
The last of the birds was killed in
the seventeenth century, but there
are written records of it, and also
The same is true of its
relative. the solitaire, which
was much like it, though smaller and
a trifie quicker on it's feet, so that II
survived a few years longer.
Pigeons live chiefly on islands.
because islands are generally free of
the predatory animals which destroy
such birds. Pigeons are stupid and
are easily killed. while their nests
are always poorly hidden. In the
tropical islands in Australia, where
they most abound. pigeons nearly al
ways live In trees. and their only
enemies are hawks. 1t is interesting
to note that these tropical pigeons
nearly always are green or greenish
color above, so that the hawks
see them among the leaves.
On the other hand. the North Amer
lean pigeons and doves. which spend