Some months ago I made a statement in an article, written for local
interest, to the effect that Manitoba had never been the home of the
wild pigeon. By this I meant that, because of unfavorable breeding and
feeding conditions within the province, only the smallest percentage
of the enormous flocks recorded for the south and east could possibly
exist here. The records here collected support me in this contention
so far as that portion of the province west of the Red River is
concerned, but the record of Sir John Richardson tends to show that
favorable conditions must have existed immediately south of Lake
Winnipeg, through what he calls a low-lying district, and where we can
assume that the cranberry and blueberry were abundant, as they were
through the district subsequently reported by Mr. McLean to the east
and northeast of this district. There is no doubt that the difference
in the character of the country east of the Red River from that of
the west would present more favorable conditions for the birds, but
not in one case has it been shown that the birds nested in colonies
approaching the size of the famous eastern and southern roosts. Reports
seem rather to show that those which bred within the province were more
generally scattered over the country, at the same time being numerous
enough to permit the shooter and the netter to make a profitable
business of killing the birds.
All evidence seems to show that large numbers passed through the
province to and from a northern breeding ground, possibly that recorded
by Hutchins near Hudson's Bay and to the westward, and that they were
excessively numerous up to about 1870, when they began to decrease. As
to the latest authenticated records, I quote from notes in my pamphlet
on "Rare Bird Records:"
"The beautiful specimen of the Passenger Pigeon that I have been able
to secure for illustration is loaned me by Mr. Dan Smith of Winnipeg,
who shot it in St. Boniface, southeast of the cathedral, in the fall
of 1893; and, so far as I have been able to discover, it was the last
bird found in the vicinity of Winnipeg, while the only specimen in the
flesh which I was ever privileged to handle in Manitoba was killed at
Winnipegosis on April 10, 1896, and sent me to be mounted."
[Illustration: Photo by C. O. Whitman (University of Chicago)
October 16, 1906.
Mr. W. B. Mershon,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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