Vol. .

a 6'[ 1044
KALMBACH, E. R,

LEWIS, Cotton Mather thePassenger on Pigeon

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1940. Economic statusof the EnglishSparrowin the United States. U.S. Dept. ANtic., Tech. Bull. 711.
SKUTCH, A. F.

1940. Some aspects Central American bird-life. Sci. Monthly, 51: 409-418, of
500-511.

WITHERBY, F., JOURDAIN, C. R., TIGEHURST, F., ANDTUCKER, W. H. F. N. B. 1938. The Handbook of British Birds. 5 vols. (London.)
Amani

TanganyikaTerritory

THE AS OBSERVED BY
BY

PASSENGER THE
FREDERIC

PIGEON COTTON
LEWIS

REV.
T.

MATHER

THE early recordsof "countless multitudes"--"millions of millions" --of Passenger Pigeonsin New England have been gatheredby Edward H. Forbushand publishedin his 'Game Birds,Wild Fowl and Shore Birds' (Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture: 433-472, 1912),and againin his 'Birdsof Massachusetts' 54-82, 1927).From (2: his wide readingMr. Forbushcites,amongothers,the comments of GovernorDudley,of GovernorJohn Winthrop, and RogerWilliams (1643);but the more scientific observations Cotton Mather have by apparently been overlooked. They are found in a curious book'The ChristianPhilosopher: Collectionof the Best Discoveries a in Nature, with ReligiousImprovemonts.By Cotton Mather, D.D., and Fellow of the Royal Society. London;Printed for Eman. Matthews,
at the Bible in Pater-Noster-Row. MDCCXXI.' That octavo of viii

and 304 pages well described its author as a "rhapsody," is by designedto show"how innumerable are the Appearances Nature of whichare above Powers Mechanism."Two verypopularbooks the of served his models-one "the industrious Ray" [RAy, JOHN. as by Mr.
'The wisdom of God manifested in the works of the creation.' First

ed., 1691 (London);12th ed., 1759 (London);and others later]; the otherby "the inquisitive Derham"[DERI-IAM, Mr. WILLIAM. 'Physicotheology: A demonstration the being and attributesof God, or, of fromHis works creation.'Firsted., 1713;13thed., 1768(London); of and several later]. "Fratrum dulcepar" writesDr. Mather, in acknowledging his great indebtedness their works, "and I give to
thanks to Heaven for them."

True to form, 'The Christian Philosopher'deals with the whole realm of nature, and abounds quotations in from all the authorities.

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Dr. Mather had an imposing library, and consulted "some scores of philosophers" this occasion."Most certainlythere can be very on little Pretence an I, or Me, for what is done in theseEssays."And to more is the pity. Rarely can he say,as of a tapeworm "aboutone hundredand fifty foot long"--"Hisce ipsevidi oculis" ("I sawwith my own eyes"; but "about 150 ft. long" apparently exceeds, several timesover, the authenticmeasurements singletapeworms of from the human digestive tract). EssayXXX, 'Of the Feathered,'is limited to nineteenpages,in
which twenty authorsare cited, from Aristotle and St. Basil to Coiter, Harvey, Ray, and Derham. Dr. Derham, indeed,had made "some nice microscopical observations" the rows of little hooks which on lock the barbsof a feather in perfectalignment. Although Derham figured them in his 'Physico-theology,' thought it proper to relehe gatehis own discovery a footnote. SIRRICHARD to OWEN['Anatomyof Vertebrates,' 233, 1866 (London)] remarks:"As the eloquentPaley 2: well observes, 'everyfeather is a mechanical wonder'." Paley was impressed with Derham'sdiscovery, and made the quoted commentin a book which Darwin once admired and knew almost by heart. [P.ALEY, WILLIAM. 'Natural theology,' 1802;12th ed., 1809 (London); "some forty or more" editionsby 1854,superseding and Derham Ray in the samefield.] Mather, with a microscope his own, couldhave of verified that observation,and possiblydid so. Yet he is content to write: "Let an Eye assisted with Glasses view the textrine Art of the Plumage,and as Mr. Derham justly says . . (etc.)." There wasevi. dent need of Agassiz's advice,"Studynature, not books." Among the native birds observed the clergyman, by the Passenger Pigeonalone was so familiar and remarkablethat he brought it into his argument twice, and at somelength. First Dr. Mather writes (p. 188):
"Among other Guriositiesof Nidification, I will mention one that is observedin

Pidgeons my own Country. They build their Nestswith little Sticks of laid athwart one another,at suchdistances, that while they are so near togetheras to prevent the failing through of their Eggs,they are yet so far asunder,that the cool Air can comeat their Eggs. And the REASON for this Architectureof their Nests! 'Tis this; their Bodiesare much hotter than thoseof other Birds; and their Eggs would be perfectlyaddledby the Heat of their Bodiesin the Incubation,if the
Nestswere not so built, that the cool Air might come at them to temper it."

This is more explicit than the comment AlbertusMagnus ('De of Animalibus,'Lib. 8, tr. 2, cap. 3, c. 1250) that the nestsof pigeons are slack because, having warm bodies,they have no great need of warm nests--an opinionduly creditedto Albertusand handeddown

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by Aldrovandi. Dr. Mather had no thoughtof experimental verification. Credulously recorded(p. 190) that "The Conveyance he of what Colours please the Fowl that is hatching, our painting we to by of the Eggs,is a Curiosity." CoR^t GsR, in his 'Historia Animalium' [Liber 3: 471, 1555 (Ziirich); 1585 (Frankfurt)],had remarked:"We haveread, in a certainGermanmanuscript, that they saythat chicks hatched the colorwith whichthe eggs be incuare of to bated have been dyed." Aldrovandi ['Ornithologiae,' tomusalter: 225, 1600 (Bologna)]quotes"Ornithologus," perhaps derisively, for citing that vagueand anonymous assertion. Asto thepigeons, Mathercontinues 192): (p.
"I will adda Curiosity relating the Pidgeons, to which annually my own visit
Country their Seasons, suchincredible in in numbers, theyhavecommonly that been sold Two-pencedozen; oneManhasat onetimesurprized less for a yea, no

thantwohundred dozen hisBarn, in intowhich theyhave come Food, by for and

shutting door,he hashad themall. Amongthese the Pidgeons, Cocks the take
careof the youngones one part of the day,and the Hens for the other. When for

theyaretaken, generally but oneSexat a time. In theCrops the Cocks, we take of

we find about the quantity of half a Gill of a Substance a tenderCheese-Curd: like

the Henshaveit not. This Curdflows naturally into their Crops, Milk does as into the Dugsof otherCreatures. The Henscouldnot keeptheir youngones
alivewhenfirst hatched; the Cocks fetchup this thickned but do Milk, and throw it into the Bills of their youngones, whichare so nourished with it, that they
grow faster,and fly soonerthan any other Bird amongus. None but the Cocks

whichhave young ones carefor, havethisCurdfoundin their Crops.Kill one to

of thoseCocks, and all the youngonespine away to death in the Nest, notwithstandingall that their Dams can do for them. See Sirs, and be instructedl Masculusipsefovet Foetus,atque incubat Ovis; Con]ugii servatfoedera castasui." (Father pigeon incubateseggs,and looks after his chickens, Chastelyobserving bond- faithful to conjugalvows.) his

In the precedingpassage Mather has made a note of some Dr. novelty and importance. Indeed, Aristotle in the 'Historia Animalium,' according Sir D'Arcy Thompson's to translation(Oxford, 1910,p. 613a)had written: "When the youngare born,he [the cock] will take and masticate pieces suitablefood,will open the beaks of of the fledglings, inject these and pieces, thuspreparingthem betimes to take food." But Sir D'Arcy notesthat mostmanuscripts ediand tions have it "saltishclay" rather than "suitablefood" that the cock injects. Pliny ('Natural History,' transl.by H. Rackham,Loeb Library ed., 3: 359) observes that when the hen pigeon is producinga
brood, "she receives comfort and attendance from the cock. For the

chicksat first they collectsaltishearth in their throat and disgorge

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it into their beaks, get theminto proper to condition food." for

Twelvecenturies later,Albertus(loc.cit.) is somewhat moreexplicit. "When the chicks youngand small,"he writes,"the cockcomes, are and takingthe chick's beakinto his own,he opens and poursin it
an earthysaltysubstance, that from the sharpness the salt the so of cropsof the chicksare opened,and their appetiteis stimulated:then alternatelyin turn father and mother feed the chicks." In modern times the Passenger Pigeon's need for salt was observed the Indian by Chief Pokagon, who wrote: "Certain it is, while feedingtheir young they are frantic for salt. I haveseenthem pile on top of eachother, aboutsalt springs, two or moredeep" [MERsaON, B. 'The Passenger W. Pigeon': 206, 1907 (New York)]. Harvey ('De gen. anim.': Ex. 7, 1651)noted that in the wholefamily of pigeons(wronglyaddingrooks)there is a regurgitation, from the crop, of macerated and preparedfood with which the youngare nourished "just asinfant quadrupeds fed with milk." Job. Conrad are Peyer ('Merycologia':27, 1685) quotesthis statementfrom Harvey to bolsterhis slight evidence that there are ruminant birds. Following Cotton Mather's much more satisfactory account,the next advance madeby John Hunter, sooften considered was "the discoverer the curious of phenomenon," thoughsome mentionPeyer. In a famousessay, illustratedwith two quarto plates,one of the crop from a pigeon whenit hadno young ones, and the otherfroma male pigeon while the femalewasbreeding, JohnHunter likensthe change in the latter to whathappens the udderof femaleMammalia in during uterinegestation [HuNaER, JOAN.'Observations certainparts on of the animaloeconomy.'1786 (London);2nd ed., 1792. On a secre-

tion in the cropof breeding pigeons the nourishment their for of young; 191-197 1sted.;p. 235-241 the 2nd]. He described p. of of the product the pigeon coagulating a curd,"not asbeing in as into literallyso,but asresembling morethananythingI know." In that the cropof the cock pigeon the timethe young at werehatching, Hunterfound"pieces whitecurdmixedwith some the common of of foodof the pigeon, such barley, as beans, etc." But whatis fed to theyoung bird is at firstonlycurd. "About thirdday,some the of thecommon is foundmingled food with it; asthepigeon grows older, theproportion common is increased; thatby thetimeit of food so is seven, eight, ninedays thesecretion thecurdceases or old, of in
the old ones, and of course morewill be found in the cropof the no

young." HadDr. Mather known such of graded infant feeding, he

would have transfen'ed this point his piousexdamation-"Great to God, we are amazedI"(cf. p. 151).

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The graded feeding been has confirmed [LuMLEY, W.F. 'Fulton's bookof pigeons, editedby LewisWright.' London,1895, quoted as
in C. O. Whitman's 'Behaviorof Pigeons,'1919 (CarnegiePubl. 257, vol. 3). Cf. alsoBEAMS MEYER, ANt) The formationof pigeon"milk," Physiol.Zool., 4: 491, 1931.] and the validity of every feature mentioned by Mather has now been determined. He was right in saying that, "when taken, we generally take but one sex at a time," since
toward noon the hens leave their nests for food, air, and exercise,

and the cocks take their place. "In a pigeonloft at about 2 o'clock, all the cock-birds sitting"--the hens again in the evening and all are the night. But the clergyman wasin error in declaringthat the hens do not producethe "thickenedmilk." Hunter found it in pigeons of both sexes, thoughthe male "perhaps furnishes this nutriment in a degreestill more abundant." Ordinarily there is no appreciable difference the quantityproduced the two parents; in by and Dr. Oscar Riddle has had repeated instances successful 9f rearing of a pair of squabs the female alone, or by the male alone, as a consequence by of death or removalof one parent closeto the time of hatching. Again Dr. Mather wasright in asserting that because the curd the young of pigeons grow faster than other birds. Pigeons double their initial weight in three days;ducks (which grow rapidly) in six days;and

poultryin nine days (KAUFMAN, 'Croissance pigeon,' Biol. L. du

gem,3: 107, 1927). Mather's bold comparison the "tender cheese-curd" of with milk is now well established. Hunter, indeed,found that pigeonmilk lacked sugar;but it is only slightlylessrich in proteins, fats, and ash than rabbit's milk (MLLE.W. DABROWSKA. la composition 'Sur chimique de la scrtion lacte du jabot du pigeon.' Gompt. Rend. Soc.Biol., Paris, 110: 1091-1093,1932). Histologicallyalso, the crop secretion is comparable with milk, althoughit does come not from the detached outer ends of cells in branchingglands,but from entire fatty cells desquamated from the free surfaceof a stratifiedepithelial field. Dr. Litwer, of Leningrad,has provideda full modernaccountof the process, references all theimportant with to preceding papers (Zeitschr. Zellforsch.u. mikr. Anat., 3: 695-722, 1926). But the mostremarkableconfirmation the analogybetweencropof milk and mammarymilk has been providedby Dr. Riddle and his associates. After findingthat one of the products the anteriorlobe of

of the hypophysis, whichtheylater isolated and namedprolactin, is the specific stimulus the enlargement functioning the cropfor and of
glandsin pigeons, they showedthat the very sameproduct activates

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ALl)RICH, Races the White-breasted of Nuthatch

[Auk L Oct.

the mammary glands mammals.When prolactin discharged of is into the bloodof pigeons either sex,not only doesthe crop-gland of develop to a functioningstate,but parentalbroodingand self-denying care of eggsand youngwill then characterize pigeon'sbehavior. the (RmnLE, OSCAR, BRAUCHER, ANn P.F. 'Control of the special secretion of the crop-gland pigeons an anteriorpituitary hormone.' Amer. in by
Jour. Physiol., 3?: 17-fi25, 1931. RmnL, O.; BATS,R. W.; an DYKSHO, S.W. 'The preparation,identificationand assay proof
lactin.' Ibid., 105: 191-21, lg33. RInnL, O. 'Prolactin.' Sci. Month-

ly, 4?: g?-ll3, lg38. Also a personalcommunicationfor which the author is greatly indebted.)
If Cotton Mather had known the results of these latest hormone

studies,would he have written his 'Christian Philosopher'to show the impotence mechanism?Presumably would reflectthat the of he hypophysis an appendage the brain, and that the production is of and releaseof prolactin may not be as mechanicalas an experimental injection. As Professor Whitman has said, "the birds certainlyseem to understand what is goingon." They may not be altogether predestinedCalvinistbirds. Sincea mechanism availablefor causing is

bothparents suckle to their young, for assigning duty to either or that sexalone, there may be wisdomand purposein the existingorder in
mammalsand mankind. "Chance cannot govern it." The Rev. Cotton Mather's observations are imperfect and anti-

quated, yet it is no small achievement have anticipatedJohn to Hunter, while providingthe best colonialaccountof the Passenger Pigeon, and suggestingpossible a clue to its amazing abundance.
Harvard Medical School

Boston, Massachusetts
NOTES ON THE WHITE-BREASTED RACES OF THE NUTHATCH

BY JOHN W. ALDRICH

IN the course of identifying White-breastedNuthatches (Sitta

carolinensis) the stateof Washington, connection from in with the

Fish and Wildlife Service's investigations the birds of that area, on the writer hasreviewed geographical the variationof thisspecies over its entire range. Sincesomeof the factsrevealed this studydo by not appearto have beenmade clear previously the literature,it in would seemworth while to presentthem here.

Through courtesy A. J. vanRosse, excellent the of an series of