Netting the Pigeons
By William Brewster, from "The Auk," a Quarterly Journal of
Ornithology, October, 1889.
In the spring of 1888 my friend, Captain Bendire, wrote to me that
he had received news from a correspondent in central Michigan to the
effect that wild pigeons had arrived there in large numbers and were
preparing to nest. Acting on this information I started at once, in
company with Mr. Jonathan Dwight, Jr., to visit the expected "nesting"
and learn as much as possible about the habits of the breeding birds,
as well as to secure specimens of their skins and eggs.
... Pigeon netting in Michigan is conducted as follows: Each netter
has three beds; at least two, and sometimes as many as ten "strikes"
are made on a single bed in one day, but the bed is often allowed to
"rest" for a day or two. Forty or fifty dozen birds are a good haul for
one "strike." Often only ten or twelve dozen are taken. Mr. Stevens'
highest "catch" is eighty-six dozen, but once he saw one hundred and
six dozen captured at a single "strike." If too large a number are on
the bed, they will sometimes raise the net bodily and escape. Usually
about one-third are too quick for the net and fly out before it falls.
Two kinds of beds are used, the "mud" bed and the "dry" bed. The former
is the most killing in Michigan, but, for unknown reason, it will not
attract birds in Wisconsin.
It is made of mud, kept in a moist condition and saturated with a
mixture of saltpeter and anise seed. Pigeons are very fond of salt
and resort to salt springs wherever they occur. The dry bed is simply
a level space of ground carefully cleared of grass, weeds, etc., and
baited with corn or other grain. Pigeons are peculiar, and their habits
must be studied by the netter if he would be successful. When they are
feeding on beech mast, they often will not touch grain of any kind, and
the mast must be used for bait.
A stool bird is an essential part of the netter's outfit. It is tied
on a box, and by an ingenious arrangement of cords, by which it can be
gently raised or lowered, is made to flap its wings at intervals. This
attracts the attention of passing birds which alight on the nearest
tree, or on a perch which is usually provided for that purpose. After a
portion of the flock has descended to the bed, they are started up by
"raising" the stool bird, and fly back to the perch. When they fly down
a second time all or nearly all the others follow or accompany them and
the net is "struck."
The usual method of killing pigeons is to break their necks with a
small pair of pincers, the ends of which are bent so that they do
not quite meet. Great care must be taken not to shed blood on the
bed, for the pigeons notice this at once and are much alarmed by it.
Young birds can be netted in wheat stubble in the autumn, but this is
seldom attempted. When just able to fly, however, they are caught in
enormous numbers near the "nestings" in pens made of slats. A few dozen
old pigeons are confined in the pens as decoys, and a net is thrown
over the mouth of the pen when a sufficient number of young birds have
entered it.
Mr. Stevens has known over four hundred dozen young pigeons to be
taken at once by this method. The first birds sent to market yield
the netter about one dollar a dozen. At the height of the season the
price sometimes falls as low as twelve cents a dozen. It averages about
twenty-five cents.