WHILE working on a history of the Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migra- torius) it was found that Cotton Mather had submitted several ornithological manuscripts to the Royal Society of London.  Only extracts from this material have appeared in print. The two manuscripts on the Passenger Pigeon, given below, are not dated but appear to have been written in 1712 and 1716, respectively. It is not difficult to arrive at a satisfactory reason for the failure of his manuscripts to receive full publication at the time of preparation. An abstract of one of his letters to the Society reads as follows: "As to the Itinerants; he takes notice of vast Flights of Pigeons, coming and departing at certain Seasons: And as to this, he has a particular Fancy of their repairing to some undiscovered Satellite, accompanying the Earth at a near distance. "2 Some information on pigeons is given also in his 'Christian Philosopher'. s The incredible numbers in which the Passenger Pigeon occurred coupled with "religious improvements" could have made an editor wary even in those days. The manuscripts aside from historical value contain some interesting information. There is recognition of a chronological division of duties between the male and female while the pigeons were nesting. In so far as known, Mather is the first to mention the production of "milk" by the Passenger Pigeon. It is a tribute to the keenness of observation of the Indians that they should recognize that this substance was formed by a metabolic process and that to it was due the phenomenal growth of the young pigeon. It will be noted, furthermore, that the Indian name for the Passenger Pigeon "signifies Wanderers." The common Algonquian word for pigeon is omimi but no similar word resembling it and meaning wanderer is known at this day. Mather's statement is probably of Natick origin. Williams 4 gives wuskowhan as the name for pigeon in the Narragansett dialect, while Lewis states more specifically: "The Indians called the pigeon wuscowhan, a word signifying a wanderer." The colonists acquired much of their knowledge of natural history from the Indians, so that migratory and passenger in English are but synonyms of wuskowhan. The latter, doubtless, was also the inspiration for the specific name migratorius subsequently applied by Linnaeus. TEE PIGEONS Proposing to answer your desire of a Treat with a further mess of o r Pigeons, I must in the first place confess, that they sometimes make one think of the Quails, with which ye Appetites of the Israelites were gratified in ye Arabian Desert. The Sacred Historian mentions these as arriving in such a Number, that they were as the Sand of the Sea, and they were seat- feted not only thro' ye whole camp, but also a day's journey which we may take to be twenty miles at least, on both sides of it: And it is added they were as it were two cubits high, upon the Face of y Earth. I know, both Jonathan and Jerome carry that passage, as only meaning that they flew Two cubits high above the Earth. A Jewish Rabbi, therefore, notes upon it, that their Flight was Ad humanl Pectorls Altitudinem; that so there might be ye Less of Trouble in catching them: And Philo 6 takes notice, that such a Flight was ordered, Iq {J0q1/2ov that they might have the more Easy Fencling of it. Nor is this disagreeable to Pliny's 7 Remark, on y Quail, That, cum ad nos venlt, Terrestris potius, quam sublimus est. But, why may it not suffice to say, that they lay in scattered and numberless Heaps, every where, not far asunder Two Cubits high. And what we render Ten Homers, which are mentioned as y Least Quantity of ym gathered by any who em- ployed themselves in gathering of ym, a famous interpreter, I remember, directs us with very good reason to read, Heaps, rather than Homers; and if I don't forgett, both Onkelos, and the Arabic, do read it so. And there- fore there was no need for, A Lapide, to be at the pains of casting up the precise Number of the Birds then gathered by the Israelites, which he finds to be Twelve Thousand Millions. On this occasion I call to mind Varro s tells us, that y Quails visited Italy in the season of them, immani Numero. Pliny 7 and Solin ø add that such was the Number of the Quails then flying over the Mediterranean, as to endanger the Vessels, which thro' weariness they would sometimes light upon. But there was no where a greater plenty of Quails, than in Egypt, from whence they were now brought unto the Israelites. Many ancient writers tell us, They were so many in their Seasons, that the Egyptians not being able quickly to devour ym salted ym up; tho' Theocritus tells us, there were Thirty Thousand Towns in that country; and Josephus tells us, there were many more than seven hundred & fifty myriads of people there. But, while I am thus falling to a Dish of ye Israelirish Quails, Job IAtdolphu31ø comes in, & wholly turns my Stomach, by proposing, that there were no Quails at all in ye Story, but that all this while they were no other than Locusts, which are intended by the Term Selan, which we have mistranslated, Quails, upon y credit of one single Jew, who is not always to be relied upon. A better Dish than that, you would have in ye Pigeons: A Bird which in almost every thing resembles your Turtle-Doves; only that it is a little Bigger. The Numbers of those, that visit us in their Seasons, are such, that I am almost afraid of giving you a true Report of them, lest you should imagine a Palephatus were imposing his Incredibles upon you. Yett it will a little answer ye intention of yO Correspondence wherewith you favour me, if I do report something of them. I affirm to you then; That sometimes we have mighty Flocks of those Pigeons flying over us; thousands in a Flock; ye best part of a mile square occupied by a Flock: These passing along, yO Welkin in a manner obscured & covered with ym; & several Hours have run out, before ye appearance of these Birds thus making y best of their way have been over. They have been frequently sold for Two Pence or Three Pence a Dozen: tho' two or three of ym, Roast or boild or broil'd, may make a meal for a Temperate Man. Yea: they are sometimes kill'd in such plenty, that the countrypeople feed their Hogs with ym. One of my Neighbors has killed no fewer than two & thirty dozen at one 8hott. Gentlemen have complained unto me, that they have Litt in such Num- bers on their Trees as to break down yO Limbs thereof, & spoil their Orchards. They will sometimes roost at Night in such Numbers among yO Thickets, that yO people with no other weapons than Sticks & Poles kill Thousands of ym. One worthy person of my Acquaintance had a Descent of them in his Neighborhood in ye month of December, a very unusual Time of the Year; while there was yett no Snow, but many Acorns on the ground, which 'tis thought, might then draw ym thither. At their Lighting on a place of Thick Woods, the Front wheel'd about, the Flanks wheel'd inward, and Rear came up, [S r, He was a Captain, who gave me the written Relation !] and piteh'd as near to the Center, as they could find any Limb, or Twig, or Bush to seize upon. Yea, they satt upon one another like Bees, till a Limb of a Tree would seem almost as big as an House. 'Tis incredible to tell, how Large & Strong & Many Limbs were broken down, by this New Burden upon ym. The breaking of ym were heard at a mighty Distance. The Birds filled more than Half a mile, about from the Center, and the Noise they made, was like ye Roaring of the Sea. The Night was dark; but this Gentleman, and his Sons, with Guns & some other less Noxious Tools, laid in among ym, & some they took alive with their Hands; and in ye morning found ye Number of their Slain, to be one hundred & three Dozen; besides, what some other people had carried away. A few Days ago I was at a Table of some Superior Gentlemen, relating some of these things: and One, whose Veracity was not to be disputed, said He had a Story that would cap all of mine; For (said he,) I have catched no less than Two Hundred Dozens of Pigeons, in Less than two minutes of Time & all in one Trap: The pleasant mention of the Whetstone n on that oc- casion, obliged yO Gentleman immediately to explain himself; and add; Such a Number broke into my Barn, & bin--by shutting yO Door, I had ym all at my Mercy. And yO Truth is; They have appear'd in such Numbers that it has been thought, all ye Corn in ye Country, would scarce afford ym a Breakfast. But o* people, enjoy as much of a Divine Mercy in such a Supply for o' Table in ye Wilderness, as if y Bird Ratham,  which y Talmud tell of, were making his Appearance. O r Indians call these Pigeons, by a Name that signifies Wanderers. But where they go, when they leave us, no man alive can tell. They go not unto o r English Colonies to the Southward. If you will not allow ym to retire unto some Receptacles above us in o r Atmosphere: (which, I wonder, how you can account for your Season-Birds, without supposing,) they must have a Retreat in South-west parts of America, whereof we are not yett advised. I will take leave at this time, to add one passage more, which my Friend Captain Billings gives me in a Letter from whence I transcribe this para- graph. Once in April, it being y time of the year that those Birds were on their Nests, they came down to feed on the Salt-Marsh. After ye manner of Doves, The Cocks take care of y Young ones in ye Nests, for one part of the Day; & ye I-lens y Other. I have often killed no less than twenty Dozen at one Setting; but all generally of one Sex. The Cocks were always by far y fattest, and when we opened them we found in their craws, about y Quantity of half a Gill of a Substance like a Tender Cheese-Curd. I asked Some of o r Indians, what those Pigeons had Eaten; and why the I-lens did not feed on the Same. They answered, It was nothing they had eaten, but something that came naturally into their crops, as milk does into the Dugs of other Creatures; and that the Hens could not keep their Young alive, when first hatched; and that this nourished the young Birds, & caused them to grow fatter, & fly in half y Time, that any other Birds could attain to it. All that now remains is to wish you as many Friends, as there have been seen Fowls in yO mighty Flocks I have told you of; but among them, a very particular eonslderation for him, who would be, Sir, Heavily & Forever at your Service. [COTTON MATHER.] TItE NIDIFICATION OF PIGEONS You were not so eloy'd with a small Treat of my New English pigeons, which I endeavoured for you, in a former Letter, that you will be unwilling to know any further of them. Among the entertainments of your ornithology, and in yO vast field of wonders for which ye Feathered Tribes have winged your curiosity, you have allowed a particular consideration to that surprising skill with which their nidification is managed. It surprises us to see, what secure places they find out, and what proper ones where their young may ly safe & warm, & have their growth promoted. With what an artificial Elegancy are some of their Nests preparedl Such, that Human Skill could hardly imitate it! We celebrate ye Nests of ye Indian Bird composed of the Fibres of cer- tain Roots w ch we're so curiously interwoven, that they cannot be beheld without astonishment. These Nests, the sagacious Bird (which therefore with good reason they call, a subtle Jack) hangs on the ends of yC Twigs, of yO Trees over the Water to secure its Eggs & its young from yO Ravages of Apes, & other Beasts, that else would prey upon thm. And what shall we say of the Flamingo's? They build their Nests in shallow ponds, wherein there is much mud; which they scrape together into little Hillocks, like Islands appearing out of yO water, about a foot & [a] half high from ye bottom. They make the Foundation of these Hillocks broad, bringing them up tapering to the top, where they leave a small hollow pitt, in which they lay their eggs; and when they either lay or hatch their eggs, they stand all the while, not on the Hillock but close by it, with their Legs on yO ground and in yo Water, resting themselves on the Hillock, and covering the hollow nest upon it with their Bodies. Their Legs are very long, and building as they do upon the ground, they could neither draw their Legs conveniently into their Nests, nor sit down upon ym otherwise than by resting their whole Bodies, to ye prejudice of their Eggs, or Young, were it not for this rare contrivance. But what my Pigeons do, is as worthy to have Remarks made upon it as any of y* rest. They build their Nests with little sticks Laid athwart one another, at such distances, that while they are so near together, as to pre- vent their eggs falling through, they are yet so far asunder that their eggs may feel the cool air coming at th TM. Now the REASON for this Arehitee- turel Tis this; their Bodies are much hotter than those of other Birds, and their Eggs would be perfectly addled by yo Heat of their Bodies in yO Incubation, if y* Nests were not so built, that ye cool air might come at th TM to temper [thm]. If Dr. More xa in his Triumphs over Atheism took yo Eggs of Birds, for considerable Ingredient of his Antidote against that madness, and if Dr. Cheyne , from yO subject of these Eggs, did well to take this noble Flight, it is impossible duely to consider those things, without being rapt into admira- tion of yC Divine Architect; you will give meleave to add, that yo management of o r Birds cannot but compell us into the Sense of an intelligent Being, who has imprinted on those little Animals a Disposition to actions of so agreeable a Tendency. I know not, what well to make of an odd Relation published among you, a few years ago, but so well attested, that a very pious & worthy man wrote a large Treatise upon it, entitled Vox Corvi:mwhich affirms that a Raven perching on a steeple & thence turning towards a Quarrelsome Neighborhood was heard very audibly and articulately to utter these words, Look into the Third of the Collossians, and the Sixteenth. But this is very certain, Ask the Fols of y' Air & they shall tell thee. There needs no Genius to take possesion of o r Birds that we may hear ye Admonitions of Piety, and Exhortations to Believe and Adore an Infinite God intelligibly enough proceeding from ym. I am glad, that from ye Wing of one of ym I am furnished with that Engine; wherewith I may now assure you that I am, with very great Re- spect, Sr, Your [COTTON MATHER] The writer desires to express his thanks to Mr. Allyn B. Forbes of the Massachusetts Historical Society for permission to publish the above manuscripts, and to Dr. Gilbert H. Doane, director of the libraries of the University of Wisconsin, for numerous favors including a clue to the above manuscripts. PEFERENCES 1. KITTREDGE, GEORGE L. Co5on Maher's Communications o the Royal Society. Proc. Amer. Antiq. Soc., n. s., 26: 18-57, 1916. 2. Phil. Trans., 29: no. 339, 64, 1714. 3. MATHER, COTTON. The Christian Philosopher: a collection of he bes dis- coveries in Nature with Religious Improvements. London, 1721. 4. WILLIAMS, POGER. A Key ino he Language of America. Mass. His. Soc. Colh, ser. 1, 3: 220, 1810; original edition London, 1643. 5. LEwis, A. The History of Lynn. Boston, p. 22, 1829. 6. PHILO, $UDAEUS. Works. Loeb Class. Lib., 6: 384, 1935; here he reading is 7. PLnZ SECDUS. Nauralis Hisoriae, London, Lib. 10, 33, p. 1875 (1826). 8. VARRO, MARCUS TERENTIUS. De Re Rustica. 9. SOLINUS, CAIUS-$ULIUS. Collecanea Rerum Memorabilium. Edited by T. Mommsen, Berlin, p. 74, 1895. 10. LUDOLFUS, JOBUS. Diss. de Locustis, 1694. 11. Alludes o he old custom of hanging a whetstone around the neck of a liar. 12. MATHER, l. 1/2., p. 195. "In he XIVth. of Deuteronomy there is a Bird called Racham, which signifies Mercy. The Talmudiss have a Saying, Tha when this Bird appears, he Mercy of God and His Messiah is hen coming to he World." 13. MORE, Dm HENRY. A collection of Several Philosophical Writings: Antidote Against Atheism, Ec. 4h ed., London, p. 67, 1712. ". I demand further, wha is it makes the Bird o prepare her Nest wih ha Artifice, o sit upon her Eggs when she has laid hem, and o distinguish betwixt hese and her useless Excrement? Did she learn it of her Mother before her? ." 14. CHEYNE, GEORGE. Philosophical Principles of Religion. Ed. 2, London. Part I, chap. 48, p. 359, 1715. "It is very remarkable, that those Animals, Plants and Minerals, that are of most use . are more productive of their kind than others, and are found in most Places ..... Thus Hens, Geese, and Turkies are more Productive than Crows or Jackdaws, and Conies, and Hares, than Foxes or Lyons; thus a Crane, which is but scurvy Meat, lays but two eggs, and the Alka and some other Sea Fowls, but one, whereas the Partridge and the Pheasant hath Fifteen or Twenty, and those which lay fewer, and are of most value for Food, lay ofther, as the Woodcock and the Dove." 168 North Prospect Ave. Madison, Wisconsin