Evening star., 1949-05-05
This and That
By Charles Z. Trace,Ueu

"How did the passenger pigeon get its
name? I noticed you mentioned 1t being sold
out of existence In New York. Was 1t long
time ago?"
Not so long ago. as time rolls.
The last big nestings were In 1873 and 1881.
Gradually thereafter the birds dwindled.
until the last died in the Cincinnati Zoo
in 1914.
The tales Of their slaughter are incredible.
Even more unbelievable are the true stories
Of their great flights.
Alexander Wilson, sometimes called the
father OF American ornithology. saw breed
ing place In Kentucky about 1906, miles
in breadth and 40 miles long.
He saw one flight In which steady torrent
of pigeons passed over his head as he was
travelling from 1880 to 4 o'clock In the after
noon. He estimated that the flock was 240
miles long and mile wide.
The number Of birds. by Wilson's estimate.
was 2.230. .272.000. Allowing each bird half
pint of nuts and acorns q day. he estimated
1t took II. .424, 900 bushels day to feed them.
s&R
As late as 1918 the great Audubon saw q
fiight-also in Kentucky-in which "the light
Of MONDAY was obscured as by an eclipse"
He travelled IS miles, and during all that
time the light of the sun was dimmed by the
unceasing river of pigeons above.
The birds passed overhead for three days.
Audubon estimated the number Of pigeons
in flock taking three hours to pass as
Ills, ,165 900. He put their food requirements
Ut 8.7l2, 900 bushels q day.
Winter roosting places were equally in
credible. One was estimated at miles wide
and 10 miles long.
One hundred thousand acres Of land were
used by the birds. and in such an area the
ejecta covered the whole place like snow"
The birds. according to Edward Howe
Forbush In Game Birds. Wild Fowl and
Shore Birds" came In soon after sundown
with noise like gale.
Here and there, as the hocks alighted the
limbs gave way with q crash. destroying
hundreds Of birds beneath.
1T was scene Of uproar and confusion"
Forbush wrote. mo one dared venture into
the woods at night, because of the falling
branches"
The Indians never molested the birds In
their breeding places.
This all changed when the white men
These natural destroyers used clubs. stones,
guns and nets.
Destruction Of the forests helped TO end
the birds but 1t was mans greed and
destructivenesS which was really to blame.
But even today people still talk about the
disappearance as II mysterious and un-
explainable.
Forbush says-and he knew--that the
species did not become extinct in day or a
year. and that they were not wiped from the
face OF the earth by any great catastrophe;
they simply became fewer and fewer. after
the '70s and sos. and at last disappeared.
1t Is often asked" he wrote. "how 1t was
possible for man to kill them ALL 1t was not
possible. nor was 1t requisite that he should
do so. In order to exterminate them.
AN that was required TO bring about this
result was to destroy q large part of the
young birds Matched each year. Nature cut
on the rest. She always eliminates q large
share OF the young Of all creatures
We Odd our best to exterminate both old
and young. and we succeeded. The explana-
ton Is so simple that all talk of mystery
seems sadly out of place"
These beautiful creatures (named because
they were truly birds OF passage, or pas
sengers Of fiight) were II inches long. as
compared with the IL inches for our turtle
dove.
The passenger pigeon was gray-blue above,
reddish-faWn below. The tail was long. and
the wings narrow. II must have looked
amazingly like our turtle dove but larger
The date of September l, 1914. when the
last lady passenger pigeon died at Cincinnati.
should be remembered with sorrow every
year.
If we remember it well enough. we may resist
the present pressure to destroy starlings,
common pigeons. English sparrows. cats, and
even dogs because there is always some one
or some group ready 70 kin on every living
creature. As matter of fact. unless We resist
the killing urge. as explained by psychology.
we viii al end IN total destruction. II that
sad day ever comes. the poor passenger
pigeons win have been avenged.