The Passenger Pigeon 29 



alighted; for not a nut or acorn was that year to be 

 seen in the neighborhood. They consequently flew so 

 high, that different trials to reach them with a capital 

 rifle proved ineffectual; nor did the reports disturb them 

 in the least. I cannot describe to you the extreme 

 beauty of their aerial evolutions, when a hawk chanced 

 to press upon the rear of the flock. At once, like a tor- 

 rent, and with a noise like thunder, they rushed into a 

 compact mass, pressing upon each other towards the 

 center. In these almost solid masses, they darted for- 

 ward in undulating and angular lines, descended and 

 swept close over the earth with inconceivable velocity, 

 mounted perpendicularly so as to resemble a vast col- 

 umn, and, when high, were seen wheeling and twisting 

 within their continued lines, which then resembled the 

 coils of a gigantic serpent. 



Before sunset I reached Louisville, distant from Har- 

 densburgh fifty-five miles. The pigeons were still pass- 

 ing in undiminished numbers, and continued to do so 

 for three days in succession. The people were all in 

 arms. The banks of the Ohio were crowded with men 

 and boys. Incessantly shooting at the pilgrims, which 

 there flew lower as they passed the river. Multitudes 

 were thus destroyed. For a week or more, the popula- 

 tion fed on no other flesh than that of pigeons, and 

 talked of nothing but pigeons. The atmosphere, during 

 this time, was strongly Impregnated with the peculiar 

 odor which emanates from the species. 



