THE PASSENGER PIGEON in ONTARIO, by Margaret H

Ôy '-^^'0,/;%, 'I/O % ê, 0^. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from University of Toronto http://www.archive.org/details/passengerpigeoniOOmitc 3 1761 050135110 CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM OF ZOOLOGY No. 7: THE PASSENGER PIGEON IN ONTARIO, BY Margaret H. Mitchell. PUBLISHED UNDER THE REUBEN WELLS LEONARD bequest 1935 ^s SS#' ... .Î^' •v*^^ .^^ i"> fr.^^J.^ ,/.:. Passenger Pigeon (Male) Ectopistes migratorius From the original -paintings dated 1835, by William Pope. The original is in the Toronto Public Library and is reproduced by their permission. Contribution No. 7 of the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology THE PASSENGER PIGEON IN ONTARIO BY MARGARET H. MITCHELL PUBLISHED UNDER THE REUBEN WELLS LEONARD beciuest THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS 1935 Ând pigeons darkening many a mile Roar like a tempest o'er the wood.'' (Alexander Wilson.—"The Pilgrim") INSCRIBED TO PAUL HAHN IVho over a period of years has collected and generously donated to the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology the majority of the specimens of Ectopistes migratoriiis in its possession. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Introduction 11 Acknowledgments 12 Relationship of pigeons , 13 Range 14 Palaeontological evidence of origin 14 Early references 15 Eastern America 15 Indian legends 17 In Ontario 18 Distribution in Canada (with reference to Ontario) 22 Nesting colonies 25 Table of nesting colonies 27 Size of colonies 42 Decline in size 43 Dates for Ontario nestings 43 Distribution of nesting pigeons 44 Distributon of nesting colonies in Ontario 44 Choice of nesting sites 45 Use of nesting site for several years 47 Use of nesting sites as roosts 47 General descriptions 47 Nesting habits 49 The nest. 49 Number of eggs 49 Incubation 49 Brooding 50 Number of broods 50 Occurrence 51 Discussion of occurrence 51 Table of occurrence records 52 Discussion of Ontario distribution 59 Place names 62 Migration flights 63 Table of migration flights 65 Comments on migration flights 80 Spring migration 80 5 6 The Passenger Pi(3kon in Ontario PAGE Fall migration 82 Formation S4 Flight 87 Arrival and departure 87 Spring arrival 88 Table of arrival 89 Fall departure 91 Daily flights 92 Relation to brooding 92 Flights for food and water 92 Table of daily flights 93 Food 95 Early references 95 Food eaten in Ontario 97 In spring 97 In summer 99 In autumn 100 List of plants from botanical literature 101 Feeding habits 102 Economic status 103 Destructiveness 103 Value as food 106 To the pioneers 106 To the Indians 106 Methods of preparation 107 Use of feathers 108 Medicinal uses 108 Marketing of pigeons 109 In Ontario 109 Sport 112 Trap shooting 113 In Canada 117 Methods of taking pigeons 119 Early references 119 Bows and arrows 120 Shooting 122 Netting 124 Netting in Ontario 127 Trapping 127 Other methods 128 Table of Contents 7 PAGE Variation in numbers 129 Decrease and extermination 130 Theory of sudden disappearance a fallacy 130 Disappearance in Ontario 131 Last reported appearances in Ontario 132 Causes leading to extermination 137 Probable immediate cause 137 Clearing the land 139 Disease 141 Man's destruction of the species 142 Market hunters 143 Contemporary opinions on extermination 144 Legislation 147 Life History 148 Specimens in Ontario collections 150 Literature cited 153 Appendix 162 Index 177 ILLUSTRATIONS Passenger Pigeon frontispiece Photograph of Royal Ontario Museum Habitat Group 10 Map 1. Forest Distribution 23 Map 2. Nesting Records 26 Map 3. Occurrence Records 58 Map 4. Spring Flights 81 Map 5. Fall Migration 83 Advertisement of Pigeon Trap 113 Advertisement of Pigeon Shooting Match 118 Shooting Pigeons 121 Diagram of Netting Method 125 Diagram of Netting Method 126 u z biU o ITt OS -^ w f- ~ ^ r- o ^ f-" ?5J u:X 2 U vn: u. ;s a fc ,«^ K :i o T Qi «< o H ^ '/^ CO c u: ^ >_ ^ ;_ >i r^ ^:^. C^ 2 X H s Ci :z O S H < K ^ Oh U < ;d OS C o ct: O K l-H (^ INTRODUCTION ONE of the most fascinating chapters in the annals of North Ameri- can wild life is filled by the history of the passenger pigeon. Occurring in numbers that seem to have exceeded those of any other bird of which we have record, the species would command the attention for that reason alone, even without the additional fascination of being now extinct. We have to-day this history complete, and it is possible to trace it from misty beginnings in the Pleistocene to the death of the last survivor, Martha, who died at the age of about twenty-five in the Cincinnati Zoological Garden in 1914. Much has already been written of these birds, beginning with accounts from early travellers and pioneers and ending with the more scientific records of such men as Forbush and Barrows. However, nothing as exhaustive as this monograph has ever been attempted. W. B. Mershon and J. C. French made valuable collections of information for their respective States of Michigan and Pennsylvania, but as they themselves assert they were both simply interested and enthusiastic laymen. It is felt, therefore that the present work has a definite contribution to make to the knowledge of an extinct species. It not only preserves such information as we have concerning passenger pigeons in the province of Ontario, but it also covers rather fully several aspects of the birds' life-history which have before been only touched upon. Enumerating the most important, they are: food; northern limits of occurrence and nesting; variation in numbers; fixed migration routes, and finally, a new theory of extermination which divests former theories of much of their uncertainty and mystery. This breadth of scope was not definitely realized when the work was begun. In 1926 the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology issued a questionnaire, as a means of assembling information on the subject of wild pigeons from Ontario residents who remembered them. It was distributed widely in the province and a mass of detail was obtained in the answers. At first it was thought that the mere tabulation of these answers would be sufficient, but it was gradually realized that much more supplementary material was to be found in early Canadian and American literature. Then as data were obtained from these various sources and arranged, it was further apparent that sufficient reliable information warranted the 11 12 The Passenger Pigeon in Ontario making of certain statements and the formulation of theories as enu- merated above. The plan of this book is based roughly on the Museum questionnaire, that is, the order of the subject headings follows that of the questions. The information derived from the questionnaires is, wherever possible, supplemented by extracts or information from the literature. Also several extracts and one or two articles deemed sufficiently important are to be found in an appendix together with a copy of the questionnaire. Acknowledgments The Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology wishes to express its gratitude to all those who have answered questionnaires or have in any way con- tributed information, and the author wishes to thank the members of the Museum staff who have been most kind in giving both informative and critical assistance. THE PASSENGER PIGEON IN ONTARIO Relationship of Pigeons There are distributed throughout the world about five hundred species of pigeons which are divided into five main famiUes, to the second of which, the Columbidae, belong the dozen or more species to be found in North America. Of these only three occur north of the more southern States—the band-tailed pigeon (Columba fasciata fasciata), a western species confined to the Pacific coast—the mourning dove (Zenaidura macroura), more eastern in its distribution—and the passenger pigeon {Ectopistes migratorius) with the widest range of all, occurring once from the Mackenzie District to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic seaboard. The passenger pigeon's relationship to other pigeons was indicated by the possession of many of the usual characteristics of appearance and habit common to the family. Its beak and feet were slim and weak in proportion to its size; its plumage was thick and sleek, exhibiting the usual iridescence on the sides of the neck. Its nest was crudely con- structed; the eggs, white; the young altricial and fed with regurgitated curd. It drank (as do pigeons distinct from all other birds) without lifting the head, and fed largely upon vegetable material—fruit, seeds and grain. In general appearance the passenger pigeon differed considerably from practically all others of the family, being slimmer and more pleasingly proportioned. This was due to its tail, which, in distinction from the rather short, square tail of the majority of pigeons, was long and definitely pointed, and balanced the heaviness through the shoulders which is so characteristic of pigeons in general. The nearest relative of the passenger pigeons' {Ectopistes migratorius) is the mourning dove {Zenaidura macroura), and there is a distinct resem- blance between the two. Their build is similar; they possess, pro- portionately, the same length of neck, giving the sloping shoulder outline, the same long pointed tail, and the same slim, trim aspect of the whole body, A comparison of the two will show, however, a distinct difference in colouration, the passenger pigeon being, even in the female, more brightly and definitely coloured, while the softer shades of the mourning dove blend almost imperceptibly one into another. There was also a considerable difference in size between the two, the wild pigeon measuring about sixteen inches while the dove is only about eleven inches long. There were other differences: the wild pigeon seems to have been a more 13 14 Tni<: Passenger Pigeon in Ontario vigorous and dashing bird with few of the accepted dove-like ways; it was noisy and its notes were loud and decisive, not soft and crooning as are the mourning dove's.

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