Adult Male Passenger Pigeon
The Passenger Pigeon was easily kept in captivity. All species
of Pigeon take more or less well to cage-life, but the Passenger Pigeon throve
and bred much more readily than some of the others. My own observations of
it at close range were due to the privilege of studying in the pigeonry
maintained by the late Prof. C. 0. Whitman. In Chicago and in Woods Hole,
Professor Whitman kept Passenger Pigeons in pens of modest dimensions, yet
they bred, and would probably have maintained their numbers permanently,
had it not been for in-breeding, the flock being all descended from one pair.
They took readily to the nest-boxes, nesting materials, and all other artificial
arrangements of the aviary. They did not become exceedingly tame, did not
eat out of one's hand (so far as I saw); but, if effort had been made to
tame them to this degree, who knows but it might have been successful? It
is a great pity that attempts were not made earlier to breed these birds
in confinement, for it is certain that the species could have been thus saved
from extinction.
As an aviary bird, it would have been a favorite, on account of its beauty
and its marked individuality. Constant close association with a bird in the
aviary gives one a kind of intimate acquaintance with it which can seldom
if ever, be gained by observation of wild birds. And for such study at close
range the Passenger Pigeon was, and would ever have continued to be, a most
interesting subject, for its strongly marked character appeared in every
minute detail of its habits, postures, gestures, and voice.
In another place, I have given a somewhat technical and detailed description
of certain habits observed in the captive Ectopistes migratorius. The great
account of this species, that by Professor Whitman, remains still to be published
in the monograph on Pigeons now being edited by Doctor Riddle. Here, in
BIRD-LORE, I shall try to portray my clearest recollections of this magnificent
bird; I shall add a few facts to those mentioned elsewhere; but I shall endeavor
chiefly to convey to the minds of others something of the vivid impression
made upon the minds of those who observed the Passenger Pigeon in life.The
distinctive character of the species appeared, as has been said before, in
every detail of its postures and movements. Such individuality is in great
part impossible to describe, though it is felt unmistakably by everyone who
has lived with the birds. Better than any mere description are the accompanying
photographs. In them one can see that, with its long, pointed tail, its graceful,
curved neck and head, and its trim, strong body and wings, the Passenger
Pigeon was truly elegant. The Ring-Dove, by contrast, seems chubby in form
and gross in movement. The Passenger was quick, active, vigorous, and graceful.
The elegance of form and posture which shows in these photographs was matched
by an elegance of motion in every act of the birds while on the perch or
on the wing.
The Passenger was preeminently a bird of flight. Accordingly, its movements
on the ground were a little awkward, in contrast to its grace when on the
perch or in the air. It indulged often in a grand wing exercise, standing
on a high perch and flapping its wings as if flying, now slowly, now power-fully,
now leaving the perch to fly up and down the aviary, returning to the perch
and again commencing the wing exercise, looking about for somewhere else
to fly to. This species thus loved to fly more than did most of the other
Pigeons. And though not afraid of men nor properly to be called "wild," it
seemed sometimes to wish to escape from the pen and fly into the very sky.
Extreme powers of flight and extreme gregariousness seem
to be the two fundamental traits in the peculiar habits of this species.
But as to the latter trait, I did not notice that in the aviary the Passenger
Pigeons flocked together more than the others, for all Pigeons are gregarious.
The number of Passenger Pigeons being small, there was little opportunity
for them to show their extreme flocking tendency. The old accounts tell us
that in the great roosts some Pigeons alighted on the backs of those who
had found perches; but this was probably only temporary and for lack of room,
and I am sure the one alighted on must have resented it with angry voice
and a struggle to throw the other off his back.
The noise made by the Pigeons in their great breeding colonies, as we are
told by those who witnessed them, was deafening. Now, the Passenger Pigeon's
voice was very different from the voice of any other Pigeon. It had little
of the soft, cooing notes so familiar in all sorts of Doves, but showed extreme
development of the hard, unmusical notes which in most Doves are subordinate
to the coo. This peculiarity seems to have been an adaptation to life in
such extremely populous and hence noisy communities, where soft notes could
scarcely be heard, and a bird had literally to scream in order to gain a
hearing.
Let us examine the bird's various notes in more detail, for they are
interesting. The most characteristic utterance of the species was a voluble
stream of 'talking,' which ever varied with the mood of the bird, now rising
into a loud, shrill scolding, now sinking into a soft, low clucking, and
sometimes diminishing into single clucks. In addition to this voluble flow
of talk, the male sometimes shouted one or two single, emphatic notes sounding
like a loud keck, keck. All these sounds were full of meaning and expression.
And their expressiveness was greatly enhanced by the bird's movements. With
the loud notes, as used in anger, he stood at full height, in his majestic
way, and impressed the enemy by his bold appearance; and sometimes each loud
keck was accompanied, quick as lightning, by a stroke of both wings, which
struck the enemy if he was near enough, and powerfully frightened him if
he was at a distance. On the other hand, with the soft, clucking notes, which
expressed gentler feelings, even to devotion, the talking bird sidled along
the perch to the bird to whom he was talking, and sometimes put his neck
over her in a way which clearly showed his tender emotion. The Passenger
was very quick and nimble in moving sideways along a perch, and this movement
was so characteristic of his courting as to distinguish it from the courting
of any other species.
Though all this chattering and kecking was so very expressive,
it was never sweetly musical. The loud notes were strident, and even the
faint notes were hard. The male, when courting, gave also a coo, which was
musical, but so weak and faint that in my early memoranda I put it down simply
as "the weak note;" and this little coo, sounding more like keeho, was usually
given after the clucking or kecking notes, as a subordinate appendage to
them. The species gave also a nest-call, as do the other Pigeons; but this,
like the coo, was weak and inconspicuous compared with the strong and expressive
notes described above.
The female of this, as of all other Pigeons, was more quiet than the male
in both voice and movement, and distinguishable from him even when motion-less
by a characteristic shyness in her attitude, especially in the pose of her
head. So distinct was this difference between the sexes that, in looking
at the accompanying photographs (which came to BIRD-LORE without data as
to sex), I have ventured to state that four of the figures are of male birds
and one is an excellent illustration of the female. I have not hazarded a
guess as to the sex of the other four adult figures, for they are in postures
less distinctive of sex. (In the attitude of alarm, especially, the male
and female become very much alike.)
The courting behavior of this species, as is evident from what has been said
about voice and gestures, was very different from the courting behavior of
other Pigeons and Doves. Instead of pirouetting before the female, or bowing
to her, or running and jumping after her on the ground, the Passenger Pigeon
sidled up to her on the perch, and pressed her very close; and if she moved
a little away from him he sidled up to her again and tried to put his neck
over her.
The male was very jealous of his mate. And when they had a nest he was a
most truculent fellow, attacking any other bird that came into the vicinity.
The scenes which resulted were often most amusing. I once saw a male Passenger
Pigeon go around the edges of the pen and oust every Pigeon that was sitting
alone, mostly Band-tailed Pigeons and Cushats; but he did not attack the
dozen or so that were all sitting on one perch. He was not really a good
fighter: he made a bold attack, but if the attacked one showed fight, Ectopistes
generally retreated.
The defense of the nest was accompanied, as may be imagined, by a lively
chatter of scolding and kecking. The Passenger was one of the most garrulous
of all the Pigeons in the great aviary. This was naturally connected with
the fact of his having chattering notes instead of cooing ones. For a coo
is more or less formal, and it cannot be uttered in the midst of all sorts
of activity. But the chatter of the Passenger Pigeon was heard on all sorts
of occasions, and accompanied nearly everything he did. If he picked up a
straw and carried it to the nest, he talked about it while he was searching
on the ground for straws, clucked a few times as he flew up, and chattered
to his mate as he gave the straw to her.
I regret to say that I can give no account of the later stages in the
breeding of this bird, the hatching and rearing of young. For in the year
1903, when I began to study this species, the birds had already lost the
power to hatch and rear young. This much may be said, however, that the species
continued vociferous throughout a long breeding season, and in some degree
throughout the year. In August, when beginning to molt, it of course became
more quiet, losing especially the feeble coo and the nest-call. The grand
wing exercise also became reduced, for this performance seems to have been
not merely a muscular exercise but also a display. Now, some species of Pigeon
when they lose their coo, become almost silent. Not so Ectopistes. For the
kecking and scolding and chattering continued, though with not quite the
same vehemence as in the breeding season, throughout the autumn and winter.
This again goes to show, as we have said, that the Passenger was one of the
most garrulous of Pigeons, and would have made one of the most interesting
of aviary Pets.
The Last One... E. H. Forbush
