244 THE FEATHERED TRIBES. 



very much resemble the female, with the exception oi' some reddish or orange which 

 marks the shoulders of the male. It is also frequently foimd that at this time the young 

 birds chiefly associate by themselves, there being sometimes not more than two or three 

 old males iu a flock of manj' thousands. By the end of the second week of the following 

 month the flocks of birds have become very numerous and formidable ; and they make 

 most destructive assaults on the soft, succulent young ears of Indian corn ; and reinforced 

 by constantly increasing hosts from aU parts of the interior, they pour down on the low 

 countries in prodigious multitudes. " Here they are seen, like vast clouds, wheeling and 

 driving over the meadows and devoted corn-fields, darkening the air with their numbers. 

 Then commences the work of destruction on the corn, the husks of which, though com- 

 posed of numerous envelopes of closely- wrapped leaves, are soon completely or jDartially 

 torn ofi"; while from all quarters myriads continue to pour down like a tempest, 

 blackening half an acre at a time ; and if not disturbed, repeat their depredations, till 

 little remains but the cob and the shrivelled skins of the grain : what little is left of the 

 tender ear, being exposed to the rains and weather, is generally much injured. All the 

 attacks and havoc made among them at this time with the gun, and by the hawks, 

 several species of which are their constant attendants, have little effect on the 

 remainder. TSHien the hawks make a sweef» among them, they suddenly open on 

 all sides, but rarely in time to disappoint them of their victims ; and, though 

 repeatedly fired at, with mortal efiect, they only remove from one field to an 

 adjoining one, or to another quarter of the same enclosure. From dawn to 

 nearly sunset, this open and daring devastation is carried on, under the eye of the 

 proprietor ; and a farmer, who has any considerable extent of corn, would require half-a • 

 dozen men at least, with gims, to guard it ; and even then, all their vigilance and 

 activity would not prevent a good tithe from becoming the pi'ey of the blackbirds. The 

 Indians, who usually plant their corn in one general field, keep tlie whole young 

 boys of the village all day patrolling round and among it ; and each being furnished 

 with bow and arrows, with which they are very expert, they generally contrive to destroy 

 great numbers of them. 



This scene of pillage is, however, principally confined to the low countries on the 

 sea-board, or near the extensive flats which border the larger rivers. By the end of 

 September, too, the corn has acquired its hard shelly coat, and the seeds of the reeds or 

 wild oats, with many other plants that abound along the river shores, being now ripe, 

 and in great abundance, they present a new and more extensive field for these marauding 

 multitudes. The reeds, also, being often in almost inapproachable morasses, supply them 

 with convenient roosting-places, and thither they repair every evening. In some places, 

 where the reeds become dry, advantage is taken of this circumstance to destroy these 

 birds, by a party secretly approaching the place under cover of a dark night, and setting 

 fire to the reeds in several places at once, which, being soon enveloj)ed in a general flame, 

 the uproar among these birds becomes universal ; and by the light of the conflagration 

 they are shot down in vast niunbcrs, while hovering and screaming about the place. 

 Sometimes straw is used for the same jjurposo, which is pi'eviously strewed near the reeds 

 and alder bushes where they are known to roost, which being sot on fire, the havoc 

 among the birds from Ihcir foes is cnonnous ; the party returns at day to pick \ip the 

 slaughtered game. 



