Wild Pigeons Taken Near Philadelphia

Thirty thousand wild pigeons were recently taken at a single haul, within a few miles of Philadelphia.

April 6, 1838. [Wild pigeons taken near Philadelphia.] Barre Gazette 4(47): 2.

Large Flocks of Wild Pigeons - Early Spring

Large flocks of wild pigeons passed over Philadelphia to the eastward, last week.

February 16, 1826. [Large flocks of wild pigeons.] Wilmington and Delaware Advertiser 3(21): 3.

---

Early Spring

From Harrisburg, Pa. February 27.

The weather of last week was remarkably mild the Susquehanna is clear of ice. Flights of Pigeons have been observed for several days; and we have also remarked that wild geese are on their way to the Lakes. These circumstances are considered to be indicative of early spring.

March 1, 1826. Baltimore Patriot 37(50): 2.

Wild Pigeons at Philadelphia

We do not remember ever to have seen such immense flocks of wild pigeons, as were observed crossing the north part of the city on Wednesday. — Philadelphia Paper.

March 21, 1829. Wild pigeons. Connecticut Mirror 20(1029): 3.

---

Wild pidgeons are very plentiful in the Philadelphia market, and may be bought at six cents each.

March 23, 1829. Baltimore Patriot and Mercantile Advertiser 33: 2.

Man Killed by Pidgeon Hunter - Prodigious Flight of Pidgeons

Philadelphia:

On Sunday, the 21st. Instant, Abraham Dewees, John Nice, Benjamin Barker and William Rax, being out after Pidgeons, in the Township of Germantown, with each of them a Gun loaded with Powder and Pidgeon-Shott, and seeing a Flock of Pidgeons in an old Field, they cock'd their Guns with design to shoot at them, but the Pidgeons flying away, they began to uncock their Guns, in doing of which the Gun of William Rax went off and Shott the said Abraham Dewees (who was then about 12 feet distant) in the right Arm and Side, occasioning about 40 or 50 Wounds, upon which he immediately cried out, O Lord! I wonder you'd be so foolish: O Lord, I am a Dead Body; And about half an Hour after died.

March 18 to March 25, 1742. Philadelphia. American Weekly Mercury 1160: 4.

---

Boston, April 1.

Last Tuesday Morning there was a prodigious Flight of wild Pidgeons, over the neighbouring Towns, insomuch as only two men, with their Nets, caught no less than one Hundred and Sixty Dozen that Morning, and so great was the Market of them that Day, that they fell from Eight Shillings per Doz. to Half-a-Crown. The like Numbers were scarcely ever known to fly so early in these Parts.

April 15, 1742. Pennsylvania Gazette 696: 3.

Spring Reports of Wild Pigeons in 1803

On Saturday and Sunday last, the attention of the inhabitants of this vicinity was arrested by the flights of numerous and very extensive flocks of wild or wood pigeons; they passed from south to the north and appeared to those who were immediately under them, as sundry times, for several successive minutes, to almost exclude the sky. About thirteen years since, a similar flight of these birds of passage was noticed : the ensuing summer was then very sickly. With the great and pious Dr. Samuel Johnson, we would neither blindly admit or rashly reject an attention to these imaginary or real omens. It is man's wisdom to prepare for adversity by penitence for past sin and to meet it with resignation to the Divine Will. It is recorded for our instruction, that when God saw that the repentant Ninevites returned from the evil of their ways, he repented of the evil, that he said he would do unto them and did it not.

March 28, 1803. [Flights of numerous flocks of wild pigeons.] Brattleboro Reporter 1(6): 3.

---

Baltimore, March 28.

The immense flights of pidgeons over this city Thursday and Friday, from the north-east to the south-west, afforded fine sport to our city gunners. The park and other neighbouring patches of wood, were filled with sportsmen — and the incessant popping of their fowling pieces had no small resemblance to a skirmish among infantry. The field was finally cleared of pidgeons after nearly 2 days hard shooting; the number of slain we have not heard, but it is supposed to have amounted to some thousands.

How fine a theme would this have been for Shakespeare's Jaques to moralize upon. We hope the same equinoxial gale which has driven back the poor pidgeons to their winter quarters, may not have overtaken the unfortunate mariner and occasioned as fine sport for the sharks of the ocean, as for the gunners of our city.

March 30, 1803. New York Evening Post 425: 5. From the Baltimore Gazette. Also: Poulson's American Daily Advertiser 32(8206): 2 on March 31, 1803; April 6, 1803 in Maryland Herald.

---

[Many Pidgeons Flew Over Philadelphia.]

A few days since many pidgeons flew over this city! Had we seen all those that flew in the night, 'tis supposed there would have been as many again as their actually were!

April 12, 1803. Philadelphia Gazette of the United States 23(3281): 3. Also: April 8, 1803 in Baltimore Republican; May 3, 1803 in Farmer's Literary Gazette 10(526): 3.

Blackbirds as an Article of Food at Philadelphia

From the Philadelphia News.

There is a large trade in this city in blackbirds. Some years ago, when it first began, very few birds were sold; but the restaurants and private families found out that the birds could be made tender and palatable by par-boiling them and then baking them in a pie, and now dozens of bunches of blackbirds, twelve in a bunch, are sold at the very best game depots. The trade continues from April, when the birds come back from the south, until early October, when they leave this latitude; and all the season through there is one unvarying price demanded for this sort of game — viz.: Twenty-five cents per "bunch" of twelve birds.

The birds are shot by farmers' boys and other sportsmen within a radius of twenty miles from Philadelphia. As the birds fly to their feeding grounds in the morning and back to their "roosts" in the woods at sundown, and their line is straight, the gunners can fire volleys into their fluttering flocks whenever they come within range while crossing the country. At early morning and an hour or two before the sun sets the swamp and crow-blackbirds, two very different species, seem less wary and feed in the plow-furrows in the field or along the banks of creeks and rivers, where worms and fresh-water shellfish abound, and then the volleys of No. 6 shot decimate their sable ranks.

Theoretically, there is no reason why the flesh of blackbirds should not be used for food. They feed on cherries, currants, fruit, grain and worms, just as reed-birds, doves, wild pigeons, and plenty of other palatable game birds do. Blackbirds don't eat carrion, and, although they are polygamous, don't mate, and lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. They are not otherwise different from other species. They are noisy, cheeky and great pests of farmers who have cherry orchards or graperies, and those who know blackbirds best will set it down as an invariable rule that if they can steal ripe cherries they will not touch any other kind of food.

No country people eat blackbirds any more than they eat crows. They look upon both warblers with about the same sort of feelings. There is a tradition in the neighboring counties that blackbirds eat carrion, but it is not true, though their flesh is rank enough before being parboiled. A blackbird roost, that is, a place where hundreds or thousands of the stable-feathered pests flock and scream at night, is regarded by the tillers of the soil as a local misfortune, and it often happens that a dozen farmers, with their sons and hired hands, all armed with guns, will lie in ambush evening after evening, for several days, in order to shoot the birds as they fly in, in small black clouds at night, to a harboring place of this sort.

May 15, 1886. Blackbirds as an article of food. Washington D.C. Evening Star 68(10307): 2.

Philadelphia Game Market in December 1864

December 9, 1864. Philadelphia Evening Telegraph, page 8.

City Intelligence.

Game. — Our markets at the present time are well supplied with deer, notwithstanding which, however, venison is esteemed a delicacy, and as such is on the bills of fare of our first-class hotels and restaurants; but very many regard the best cut of a "saddle" as altogether inferior to a good "sirloin" or "porter house." A good cut off a saddle can be got at the rate of twenty-five cents per pound, which, as far as deer is concerned, is a prohibitory game for the poor man. Indeed, the prices which the dealers affix to all kinds of game which they expose for sale are such that they would seem effectually to debar almost all but the inveterate game-eater from patronizing their stalls. Nevertheless, the day's supply is the day's demand, the dealer secures his inevitable profits and the extravagance buyer his game dinner. We learn that the woods in the neighborhood of Altoona are more thickly infested with deer this season than for years back.

They are all in fine condition. Some of the heaviest ever heard of have been killed this season. Old hunters say that there are deer now in this locality which do not belong here, being larger, and the bucks having different shaped antlers from those usually found on these mountains. It is supposed they cam hither either from New York State, or from the mountains of Virginia. Almost every train from the East takes hunters to the mountains, but we doubt whether all of them get sufficient venison to compensate them for their loss of time, railroad fare, and destruction of shoe leather.

The quail and pheasant, both very scarce in the market this season, are real game birds, and are justly esteemed great delicacies. Quails are well nigh extinct in this section of the State, and the most that find their way to the markets come from abroad. The cold weather of last winter was more effectual in slaughtering these princely little birds that the guns of generations of hunters would have proved. Of the few quails found in the markets, a dozen may be purchased for about six dollars, or at the rate of fifty cents a piece. Wild ducks and geese have been in great abundance during the present season, and command, considering the prices on things in general, a very moderate figure. Good, fat mallard ducks, from the marshes, are to be found strung up in large numbers in all the stalls. Wild geese, like the same, are not the most esteemed of birds, but being wild, they hold their own as a game delicacy. There are a few woodcock and snipe to be found in the market, but bearing superior prices to the quail and pheasant, are not sought after in preference to the latter.

Passenger Pigeon Squabs Served at 1796 Dinner

A repast of historic significance occurred in June 1796, in Philadelphia. The event may have not been especially significant except for one particular culinary item. This account is a vivid presentation for the unknown multitude of game dinners which for centuries in the United States, have included well-done meat of many sorts of birds, each one obviously a tasty portion.

This is obviously a historically significant account indicating wild pigeons squabs being a prominent main course for a dinner of political importance.

Feathers were an especially notable part of the women's adornment.

This is the article, presented in its entirety as issued.

First Course.

Baked Salmon.
Neat's tongue. Veal olives. Sweet breads.
Pigeon pie. Soup a la reine. Fillet of beef.
Roasted lobsters. Roast lamb. Ducks and peas.
Broiled shad.

Second Course.

Green goose.
Asparagus. Cup-custard. Lamb chops.
Gooseberry tarte. Epergue. Lemon tarts.
Ragouts of livers. Blanc-mange. Spinach.
Broiled chickens.

Third Course.

Wild-pigeon squabs.
Stewed lettuce. Tartlets. Black caps.
Blanched almonds. Jellies and syllabubs. Raisins.
Buttered crabs. Cheese cakes. Ratafin cream.
Woodcock.

Sally McKean Marchioness D'Yrujo. From the Portrait by Gilbert Stuart. From: Old Time Belles and Cavaliers, By Edith Tunis Sale, 1912.

"The fillet of beef," says the chronicler, "was served with mushrooms, and the tame ducks were garnished with boiled mint shopped fine. The delicacies of the season were the green goose, spring chickens, and a hind-quarter of lamb, the latter from the grass-lands of Virginia. The wild-pigeon squabs were from the great pigeon roosts in Pennsylvania, and the wood cock were brought from the lowlands of New Jersey." This dinner was given on Arch Street, in Philadelphia, June, 1796, the hour being half-past three o'clock. Among the twenty guests who were present were Mrs. Henry Clymer and Mrs. Bingham, brilliant beauties of the day; Chief Justice McKean and his beautiful and gifted daughter; the Marquis d'Yrujo, the Spanish ambassador, who but a few days before had arrived in this country, and who, falling in love with Miss McKean at this dinner, finally married her; Sir Robert Liston, the British Minister; Counsellor Dunn, an Irish gentleman, who had come to America to study the Indian language; Mrs. Perez Mortoif, wife of the attorney-general of Massachusetts, and known as the American Sappho; Count de Volney, who had been saved from the guillotine only by the opportune death of Robespierre; Colonel Rutledge, of South Carolina, and others of nearly equal note. At this time, Philadelphia numbered about fifty thousand inhabitants, and at no season had it ever been grayer than during the winter of 1796-96. On the 1st of June, '96, Congress adjourned; distinguished strangers were still lingering in the city; and the dinner of which we write was one of a series of brilliant entertainments which followed the closing of the session. Dinners in the capital were then given at three o'clock, and were usually confined to three courses; teas were at four o'clock, and corresponded to our kettle-drums, and evening parties were at six or seven o'clock at the latest. The style of dress then in vogue was picturesque. "The dresses were generally open, the waists short, and a narrow silver laurel-tipped edging came up around the neck. The petticoat was almost always of crepe, embroidered and tied up with festoons. The hair was generally powdered, and the headdresses were composed of embroidered bandeaus, and colored and silvered crepe twisted in with the hair, which was dressed loosely. Feathers were also worn, and the turban was the favorite shape for caps. One of these caps was usually worn by President Madison's wife, and Mrs. Seaton chattily writes of Mrs. Madison. "'Tis not her form, 'tis not her face, it is the woman altogether whom that I should wish you to see. She wears a crimson cap that almost hides her forehead, but becomes her exceedingly, and reminds one of a crown, from its brilliant appearance contrasted with the white satin folds, and her jet black curls.' The fashionable colors of this time were white, pale pink and green violet, lilac, lemon color, and, to a limited extent, orange." Of the costumes worn at our dinner, several have been recorded. Miss McKean wore a blue satin dress trimmed with white crepe, richly embroidered, and across the front there was a festoon of rose-color, caught up with flowers. The portrait of Miss McKean (subsequently the Marquise d'Yrujo) was preserved in Philadelphia, and years after her death it was engraved to embellish the "Republican Court."

This menu was contributed by "Margaret" at the suggestion of "Tabbies,' bills of fare. Issued May 10, 1883 by the Washington D.C. National Tribune 2(39): 3.

Iconic City Structure Deadly to Birds at Philadelphia

When the City Hall Tower was built in downtown Philadelphia, it was topped by a "colossal" bronze figure of William Penn.

The structure - more than 500 feet in height and encircled with a ring of arc lights which burn the night long" - was dedicated on July 4, 1897, which was also when the lights were first turned on.

Within a few weeks it was known to be a hazard for migratory birds. The first report of a dead bird was given in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, and had been found at the balcony just below the lights of the tower.

William L. Baily investigated and found that it was a young Sora rail. He also noted: "This was the first bird that had flown against the tower since the lamps had been lighted."

The potential to note other instances piqued his interest, so he continued to monitor the site for bird-strikes for the next three years. His initial report of findings was read before the "Seventeenth Congress" of the American Ornithologists' Union meeting on November 15, 1899 at Philadelphia. A subsequent article was issued in 1900 by the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club of Philadelphia.

Mr. Baily's article titled "Migration Data on City Hall Tower" noted that: "Unintentionally this beautiful circle, crowning the highest point for miles around, has been the destroyer of many birds during their nocturnal migrations between their winter and summer homes. As much as we deplore this unfortunate destruction, we have been able at the same time to obtain some interesting data upon the subject of migration."

He noted species of the dead birds found (with others expected to have been taken away by passer-bys, eaten by cats or dogs, or otherwise removed and therefore not considered), the season of occurrence, kept weather-related notes, and observed bird behavior around the monument.

"In 1987, during the fall observations, nearly the whole month of September was clear and few birds were led astray into the light, and only thirty struck between August 23rd and November 8th. In the spring of 1898 Penn's collection only amounted to six birds. In the fall, the first two weeks of September were so warm that there was practically no migration until the 15th, when it was sudden and soon over, netting thirty-one victims.

"The present year (1899) the great clock, with an illuminated face over twenty-five feet in diameter, made its appearance, but luckily for the birds, the lights around the tower were turned off from May 2 to 16, and all the birds escaped but ten.

"The fall, however, the great parade and the Industrial Exhibition were special occasions for illumination, when four festoons of lamps were swung from the rim of Penn's hat to the balcony, and the gleanings from August 23 to October 31 amounted to four hundred and fifty-two birds. If, like the light-houses, there was a cylinder of glass around the outside of the light this slaughter would have been enormous. As it is, many of the birds approach the tower without striking, and I have watched them fly between the lights, circle the tower and then disappear into the darkness without in the least endangering their lives."

In his report, Mr. Baily made some comparisons of when old versus young birds were found, and briefly considered weather conditions and how they would be a variable.

The following species were collected during the spring and autumn seasons from August 27, 1897 to October 31, 1899. Species are listed alphabetically instead of in the order presented by the article.

Philadelphia City Hall ca. 1899. Image available at Wikipedia.

American Kestrel (sparrow hawk): 1

American Redstart: 16

Bay-breasted Warbler: 1

Black-and-white Warbler: 12

Black-billed Cuckoo: 2

Black-throated Blue Warbler: 12

Black-throated Green Warbler: 24

Blackburnian Warbler: 10

Blackpoll Warbler: 23

Bobolink: 1

Brown Creeper: 1

Brown Thrasher: 3

Cape May Warbler: 1

Cedar Waxwing: 4

Chestnut-sided Warbler: 2

Chipping Sparrow: 14

Common Yellowthroat (Maryland yellow-throat): 158

Connecticut Warbler: 12

Dark-eyed Junco (slate-colored junco): 6

Eastern Phoebe: 1

Eastern Towhee: 2

Eastern Wood-Pewee: 1

Field Sparrow: 6

Golden-crowned Kinglet: 1

Grasshopper Sparrow: 2

Gray Catbird: 3

Horned Grebe: 1

House Wren: 1

Indigo Bunting: 6

Magnolia Warbler: 5

Marsh Wren: 3

Mourning Dove: 2

Myrtle Warbler: 34

Nashville Warbler: 1

Northern Flicker (flicker): 6

Northern Parula (parula warbler): 67

Ovenbird: 7

Palm Warbler: 1

Pine Warbler: 5

Prairie Warbler: 1

Red-breasted Nuthatch: 6

Red-eyed Vireo: 16

Ruby-crowned Kinglet: 2

Ruddy Duck: 1

Savannah Sparrow: 2

Scarlet Tanager: 2

Solitary Vireo (blue-headed vireo): 1

Song Sparrow: 1

Sora: 1

White-eyed Vireo: 1

White-throated Sparrow: 1

Wood Thrush: 1

Yellow-bellied Cuckoo: 4

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker: 1

Yellow-breasted Chat: 3

Yellow? Warbler (yellow palm warbler): 26

Overall, 529 specimens representing 56 species were gathered, including 21 species of warblers and six kinds of sparrows, with most of the others typical songbirds of the eastern Pennsylvania region.

This report is an important account which adds significantly to the early history of bird-strikes in American cities.

The City Hall Tower is still present in Philadelphia, though whether it is still a hazard for migratory birds is not known.