258 PASSENGER PIGEON. 



A few observations on the mode of flight of these birds must not be 

 omitted. The appearance of large detached bodies of them in the air, 

 and the various evolutions they display, are strikingly picturesque and 

 interestin*'. In descending the Ohio, by myself, in the month of Feb- 

 ruary, I often rested on my oars to contemplate their aerial manoeu- 

 vres. A column, eight or ten miles in length, would appear from Ken- 

 tucky, hif'h in air, steering across to Indiana. The leaders of this 

 great body would sometimes gradually vary their course, until it formed 

 a large bend of more than a mile in diameter, those behind tracing the 

 exact route of their predecessors. This would continue sometimes long 

 after both extremities were beyond the reach of sight, so that the whole, 

 •with its glittery undulations, marked a space on the face of the beavens 

 resembling the windings of a vast and majestic river. When this bend 

 became very great, the birds, as if sensible of the unnecessary circui- 

 tous course they were taking, suddenly changed their direction, so that 

 what was in column before became an immense front, straightening all 

 its indentures, until it swept the heavens in one vast and infinitely ex- 

 tended line. Other lesser bodies also united with each other, as they 

 happened to approach, with such ease and elegance of evolution, form- 

 ing new figures, and varying these as they united or separated, that I 

 was never tired of contemplating them. Sometimes a Hawk would 

 make a sweep on a particular part of the column, from a great height, 

 when almost as quick as lightning, that part shot downwards out of the 

 common track, but soon rising again, continued advancing at the same 

 height as before ; this inflection was continued by those behind, who on 

 arriving at this point, dived down almost perpendicularly, to a great 

 depth, and rising followed the exact path of those that went before. As 

 these vast bodies passed over the river near me, the surface of the water, 

 which was before smooth as glass, appeared marked with innumerable 

 dimples, occasioned by the dropping of their dung, resembling the com- 

 mencement of a shower of large drops of rain or hail. 



Happening to go ashore one charming afternoon, to purchase some 

 milk at a house that stood near the river, and while talking with the 

 people within doors, I was suddenly struck with astonishment at a loud 

 rushing roar, succeeded by instant darkness, which, on the first moment, 

 I took for a tornado about to overwhelm the house, and everything 

 around, in destruction. The people observing my surprise, coolly said, 

 " It is only the Pigeons ;" and on running out I beheld a flock, thirty or 

 forty yards in width, sweeping along very low, between the house and 

 the mountain or height that formed the second bank of the river. These 

 continued passing for more than a quarter of an hour, and at length 

 varied their bearing so as to pass over the mountain, behind which they 

 disappeared before the rear came up. 



In the Atlantic States, though they never appear in such unparal- 



