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y Br r~ PA a= 5 PASSUN> . 7 .3' P A L S ................. ItlEStM'ABLY eve r y b o d y knows by this time that there is a standing offer of $400 in cash for the man, woman, boy or girl who finds the nest of a wild pig eon (ectopistes migratori us), otherwise known as the passenger pigeon, and finds with it the nestling birds. In order to get the reward the person who makes the dis covery must leave the nest and the birds unmolested and prove the truth of it by making a report and giving the sci entists an opportunity to verify the case. Magazine and newspaper articles lit erally by the thousands have been writ- .M ten about the disappearance of the wild pigeons which once, as it is al ways put, "darkened the sun with their flights." The members of the biologi cal survey in Washington are specially interested in the subject of the disap pearance of this bird of passage from its wild haunts. For years it has been hoped that nesting pairs might be found in some part of the country and that with proper protection the bird might be restored in part at least to its place in nature. Recently there was a story published to the effect that the birds, wearied of the constant persecution which met them in the United States, had changed the course of their flight and had gone into Mexico and there were living peace fully and happily. This story proved to be absolutely without foundation. Still another tale was to the effect that the pigeons had gone into the heart of South America and there finding conditions pleasant were leading a non-migratory 'life. This tale also proved to be en tirely fictitious. In all parts of the southern states in the winter seasons there are people watching sharp-eyed for a glimpse of the bird that once was a common sight. In the summer sharp eyes of the north are constantly on the alert for the same purpose, but as yet no authentic report has been received that the bird of mys terious disappearance has revisited the scenes familiar through the centuries to its ancestors. Qne of the scientists most interested in the search for the wild pigeon is Ruthven Deane, fellow of the American Ornithologists' union and president of the Illinois Audubon Society for the Protection of Wild Birds. Mr. Deane - virtually has given up all hope that any ) living specimen of the passenger pigeon ever will be found, but he is as tireless today as ever in tracing reports of the bird's reappearance to their sources. The offer of $400 for the discovery of a nesting pair of the pigeons and their undisturbed nest comes from Clifton R. Hodge of Clark university, but $100 ad ditional will be paid for the discovery of a'pair of birds and their nest if found In the state of Illinois. The additional reward is the Joint offer of Mr. Deane and, as I remember it, of Professor Whitman of the University of Chicago. One of the most curious features of the -search for the wild pigeon is the mistakes which are made constantly by men who years ago trapped the pigeons and were as familiar with their appearance as they were, and are today for that matter, with the appearance of the com mon robin of the dooryard. Reports have come in from all sections of the country of the reap pearance of the pigeon, but on investigation it invariably has been found that the discoverers had seen nothing more nor less than the com mon wild dove (venaldura macroura), or mourn ing dove, which is so familiar a bird that it seems almost impossible that any man of the countryside could have failed to overlook it as his constant neighbor and could confuse it with its much larger cousin, the passenger pigeon of other days. To give an example of how the search is con ducted for the wild pigeon and how conscientious are the scientists in attempting to verify reports of its reappearance this one instance, taken from a hundred instances, may be noted. Recently a report from northern Michigan reached the presi dent of the Illinois Audubon society that the passenger pigeon in very truth had reappeared in the vicinity of a club house frequented by fishermen and gunners, many of whom had known the pigeon well in the old days and who were certain that in this case they could not be mistaken as to the identity of the bird vis itors. It was a long journey to the northern Michi gan club house, but an ornithologist undertook the trip believing in his heart that finally the passenger pigeon had been found, for he knew that the nien who had made the report had been familiar with the bird in the old days and sup posedly knew the appearance of its every feather. At the end of the Journey he was told that the pigeons were there and he was led out to see them. They proved to be mourning doves, a bird common in nearly all parts of Michigan and in most of the states of the Union. The dis appointment was keen, and keener in this case tecause this was one report which seemed to have about it every mark of truth. W'hen I was a boy I knew the wild pigeon fairly well. It was nothing like as abundant as it had been in the years gone by, but occa sionally small flocks were seen in the vicinity of my birthplace in the foothills of the Adirondack mountains in central New York. I am sorry to say that I shot some of the birds before I fully realized the value of giving protection to a van ishing race. The mourning dove I know as well as I know the English sparrow, and I think that there is no chance of confusion in my mind re :specting the identity of the dove and its bigger relative, the pigeon. It is possible, though I am Ot sare that tuch is a fact, that I saw the last ewild pigeon reported in Illinois. Others may ra~v4 ben seen since that time within the bor ders pI the state, but if mo I have not seen their At fie o'clock on the moring of a late April 4o, atem years aso, I weat lato IUcola park, " 1 ý " " I S ..v --- - . u -_ W. .- -: Chicago, to look for migrating birds which had dropped down Into the pleasure ground from their night flight in order to rest and feed. I had just entered the park when my attention was attracted to a large bird perched on the limb of a maple tree and facing the sun, which was just rising out of Lake Michigan. My heart gave a sort of leap. for I recognized it instantly as the passenger pigeon, a bird of which I had not seen a living specimen for at least twelve years. Then instantly I began to doubt and thought that my eyes must be mistaken and that the at a- mosphere was magnifying the bird and that what Swas before me was really a mourning dove. I drew closer and then I knew there was no pos e sibility of deception. Before me was a beautiful specimen of the male passenger pigeon with the o sun striking full on the burnished feathers of Shis throat. I stood within 15 yards of the bird for fully half an hour and then it left the maple - and went in arrowy flight down the lake shore i drive toward the heart of the city. I have often Swondered since what was its fate. m Theodore Roosevelt is deeply interested in the outcome of the search for surviving mem bers, if such there may be, of the passenger pigeon S tribe. Mr. Roosevelt knew the bird when he was a boy and in his trips awield he always has kept a watchful eye open for a possible sight of a speanmen of the species now feared to be extinct S dWhen Mr.tRoosevelt was president of the United States he occasionally went to a wild spot in Virginia where he owned a cabin. He called the place Pine Knots While there one day '- he saw what he believed to be nine wild pigeons. shoot one of themene only-in order to prove a beyond peradventure that the tribe still has ex Sance of a pigeon or of a fock of pigeons every e one doubts very naturally the truth of the tale. 0 President Roosevelt did not have a gun wnth t him on the occasion of his meeting with what Le he thought were wild pigeons. If he had he p robably would have shot one of them. He told Sof his discovery. - He knew as well as anyone S else did that in the absence of the proof fur a- nished by a bird in the flesh it would be said at olingc tWhat he made he e common error. No one a knows positively today whether the nine birds S which the president saw were or were not pas ly senger pigeons. Every time that Mr. Roosevelt Shas been to Pinere wid pins. hf has hoped for 1o another sight of the birds which made him glad nsome years ago. John Burroughs heard from his friend, Theo edore Roosevelt, that the nine pigeons had been a seen in Virginia. Burroughs believed the story ot because he knew how accurate an observer of Y nature o hi friend the president was and is. The Sstories pi the piserns in Virginia led Mr. Bur S roughs to make inquires at once in the countpes In New York state west of the lower Hadson r lying in the old line of pight of the beegrting Spiseen armies on Burr ago. There the farmeys at~ ~ ~~· beas ekewhwacrt a bevro Ly~~~~~ naur hi redtepeidn a n s h ir- stris f te igon inVigiiale r. Br ir ruh omk iqiisa ne ntecute inNw okstaews o h ow Hdo nI ligi h l inofigh ftesirtn k, pien rie o eai ao Ter hefrmr *º Y and the country sports men told Mr. Burroughs that they had seen pig eons that spring, at least 1,000 of them, but that none of them had been shot. Mr. Burroughs was inclined to believe the re port, for the men who made it were old-time sportsmen and supposed ly knew the bird well. However, there is no pos itive proof today that the New York farmers and gunners were not just as much mistaken as were the old-timers who told the story of the return of the pigeons to the upper Michigan country. ýy In The Auk, a quar terly journal of ornithol ogy published by the American Ornithologists' union, there recently ap- I peared a paper by Albert Hazen Wright on "Some Early Records of the Pas senger Pigeon." In this paper are reported some I- of the first accounts I which ever saw print of P. s the pigeon multitudes of the early days. When one reads them it seems al most incredible that a bird species which num bered its individuals almost, it would appear, by the million millions could ever disappear frrm the face of the earth. The account of the great pigeon focks which is most familiar to the people of the country is that written by John James Audubon, the natural 1st. It seems from Mr. Wright's paper, however, that a century and a half before Audubon was born records were made of the immense numbers of the birds which were seen in America. The earliest writers called them turtle doves. Mr. Wright quotes from the Jesuit father, Le Jeune, who in the year 1637 likened the American Indi ans to the pigeons. "Our savages are always sav age; they resemble the migratory birds of their own country. In one season turtle doves are some times found in such abundance that the end of their army cannot be seen when they are flying In a body." Mr. Wright found another reference to the im sense numbers of the pigeons in the writings of another Jesuit father in the year 1671. The ob servation was made at Cayuga lake in New York state. "Four leagues from here I saw by the side of a river within a very limited space eight or nine extremely, fine salt springs. Many snares are set there for catching pigeons, from seven to eight hundred being often taken at once." Another fta ther of the church in the latter part of the seven teenth century writes of the passenger pigeons of the St. Lawrence country: "Among the birds of every variety to be found here it is to be noted that pigeons abound in such numbers that this year one man killed 132 at a single shot." Within the last five or six years reports have come of the reappearance of the pigeon in Mis sourl, Oklahoma, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia and perhaps from some other states. In no Instance I has proof been adduced that the real passenger pigeon, thre bird of the old time, was the species seen. The disappearance of the flocks which once covered the sky as with a cloud is one of the mys teries of nature. Man's persecution of course had much, if not everything, to do with the annihlla tion of the species, but it would seem that some ting else, disease perhaps, must be held account able at least in part for the dying out of a noble race of feathered game. He Was Too Wise Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, the government's food ex pert, said at a recent dinner in Washington: "But in our search for pure foods we may go too far. Thus a lady entered a grocer's the other day and said: "Have you got any currants.' The clerk, a college graduate, replied: "'Yes, madam, we have very fine Cortnths, ' small dried grapes from the Greek town of that name-currants, you know, is the corrupted form. How many will you haver" "'None at all If they are corrupted,' muttered the lady. I belong to a pun tefood leagunae" Hood's Sarsaparilla For All Spring Blood Diseases and Ailments Possesses medicinal merit Peculiar to Itself and has an unequaled record of cures. Take it this spring, in usual liquid form or tablets known as Sarsatabs. Spring Humors are due to the Im pure, impoverished, devitalized condi- fc tion of the blood brought about by ti the unhealthful modes of living dur- ti ing the winter, too close confinement, cl too little outdoor air and exercise, too rI heavy diet. Hood's Sarsaparilla cures d them and builds up the whole system. l H Some men, like some roosters, are always crowing-but what's the use? p IlLNI CU IN fW TO 1C D oalr so will r loao 1i PA Those days are lost in which we do no good; those worse than lost in which we do evil.-Cromwell. Taylor's Cherokee Remedy of Sweet Gtom and Mullen is Nature's great remedy- y CuOes Coughs. Colds, Croup and Whooping o Cough and all throat and lung troubles. At 14 druggists, 25c, 50e and $1.00 per bottle. Profeassonal Foresight. "That fellow has a fearful nerve," e said the dealer in firearms. 1'Who is he?" "An alienist. He says he will give me a commission on his business if I e will hand his card to every wild-eyed II person who comes in and buys a re- 51 volver." fi UP TO PAPA. ,l I - _r "Now remember this-the stronger should never do anything to lnjure the weaker!" "Then why did you lick me?" Doubting His Word. Two Irishmen occupied beds in the same room. By and by one of them woke up. "Mike," said he, "did you put out the cat?" "I did," said Mike. An hour later Patrick woke up again. "Mike," said he, "Mike, did you put out the cat?"' "Sure I did," said Mike, sleepily. "On me word of honor." Some time later Patrick again waked up. "Mike," said he, "Mike, ye divvle; ye did not put out the cat" "Well," said Mike angrily. "if ye will not take the word of honor of a gintleman get up and put her out yerself." Encourage the Boys. When a boy presents an idea that is feasible, pat him on the back and encourage him, and he will develop a love for agriculture and become the pride of your heart in your declining years and will love the homes and the farms that you have worked so hard to pay for. If farming has not paid in your case by all means give the boy a chance to begin without your handicap. "What was good enough for me is good enough for the boy," is a maxim unworthy of a New England farmer. Give the boy a chance at an agricul tural education and he will help you to stop the leaks and turn the past and present into a brighter future. A FOOD STORY Makes a Woman of 70 "One In 10,000." The widow of one of Ohio's most distinguished newspaper editors and a famous leader in politics in his day, says she is 70 years old and a "stron ger woman than you will find in ten thousand," and she credits her fine physical condition to the use of Grape Nuas: "Many years ago I had a terrible fall which permanently injured my stomach. PbFr years I lived on a preparation of corn starch and milk, but it grew so repugnant to me that I had to give it up. Then I tried, one - after another, a dosen ditfferent kinds of cereals, but the process of diges tion gave me great pain. "It was not until I began to use Grape-Nuts food three years ago that I found relie. It has proved, with the dear Lord's blessing, a great boon to me. It brought me health and vigor such uas I never expected to again e joy, and in gratitud I nevMer fail to sound its praises." Name gives by Postum Co., Battle Creek, Mich. '"Thers a Reason." Look for it i the little book, "The SRoad toWeltilh," tobe foad itp~. Wvew sm the obese t Ies A mew . Urns, emi U O e m Hood's saresparllla has no equal for cleaniing the blood and expelling the humors that accumulate during the winter. It effects its wonderful cures beasuse it combines the utmost remedial values of more than twenty different ingredients. Insist on having Hood's. It has no substitute. SHustlers. "A good turkey dinner and mince pie," said i8meon Ford, "always puts us in a lethargic mood-makes us feel. in fact, like the natives of Nola Chucky. "In Nola Chucky one day I said to a man: "'What is the prfcipal occupatuoo of this town?' "'Well, boss,' the man answered, yawning, 'in winter they mostly sets on the east side of the house and fol lers the sun around to the west, and in summer they sets on the west side and follers the shade around to the east.' " Prolific. A census-taker while on her rounds called at a house occupied by an Irish family. One of the questioes she asked was: "How many males have you in this family ?" The answer came without hesits ton: "Three a day, mum!" COLDS Mauna's Cold emedy Relsves the ead, thatd lungs lst iudla theose, takes away all achss 1ad-M cased by colds. It cares GArtns a stlnats Coughs sad prevents Fasumosls. Wriets MPr sysa. aend efersw Sts..' P as., Pafor meical adviceb. sotutel treas Cured Pain" "I take 'le, are in writing to you that I had a neuralgia pain in my arm for five years, and I used your Liniment for one week and was completely cured. I recommend your Liniment very highly."--Ms. J. McGa(w, z2z6 Mandeville St., New Orleans, La. CaMd Qupay St Thrat Ms. Har L CArx., of s242 Wilson St., Wilmington, DeL, writes :-"I bought a bot tle ot Sloan's Liniment for the quinsy sore throat and it cured me. I shall always keep a bottle in the house." SLOAN'S LINIMENT gives instant relief from rheu matism, lumba go,sciatica,neu ralgia, croup, sore throat, ton silitis, h oarse ness and chest pains. oeeans bek e rees. 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