2 
 
 
                   DISTRIBUTION OF NESTING AREAS 
      It was characteristic of the Passenger Pigeon to fly and nest en 
  masse. A popular assumption is that the nestings were limited to a 
  single or a few large areas; but this is far from the truth. Within its

  range the species nested over the entire area in single pairs, small groups,

  and colonies covering from a few hundred to thousands of acres. Fre- 
  quently there were several nestings in the same region. In 1858, a 
  beechnut year, there were three separate simultaneous nestings in 
  Oconto County, Wisconsin, (Green Bay Advocate, June 3 and io, 
  1858). There was one nesting 1.5 miles wide by 7 miles long on the 
  Peshtigo river; a second on the Oconto river reported as larger than the

  first; and a third, covering two square miles, on the same stream. In 
  certain favored sections the Pigeons nested annually in variable num- 
  bers, while in others nestings were erratic. Huge nesting areas were 
  the exception. Wilson mentions one south of Danville, Kentucky, in 
  18io, that was 3 miles wide by 40 miles long. In 1843 (?) there was 
  a nesting on the left bank of the Mississippi extending down the river

  from La Crosse, Wisconsin, "the whole length of the roost being about

  forty-five miles."' 
     The food supply was a natural control on the size of the nestings 
 and their distribution. The breeding areas were usually in long lines. 
 The reason for this offers a fertile field for speculation. Presumably 
 this form facilitated arrival and departure from the nesting. The 
 cruising range is stated to have been 50 to ioo miles daily. A simple 
 mathematical calculation will show that a line does not afford the 
 maximum accessible food area. Assuming a cruising range of 5o 
 miles for a nesting covering 120 square miles, it is found that the 
 radius of a circular nesting would be about 6.3 miles. The feeding 
 area available 50 miles from this circle would be over twice that 
 afforded on the sides of a parallelogram 40 miles long by 3 miles wide.

     In order to illustrate the distribution of the nestings during the 
period under discussion, a few examples will be given. In certain 
years no large nestings appear to have occurred due to lack of mast. 
                                 x864 
Minnesota  - - Nesting at St. Charles. 
Wisconsin  - - Large nesting in the Kickapoo woods south of Leon. 
Michigan - - - Large nesting between South Haven and St. Joseph.