The Passenger Pigeon 37 



drooping wings, which it rubs against the part over 

 which it is moving. The body is elevated, the throat 

 swells, the eyes sparkle. He continues his notes, and 

 now and then rises on the wing, and flies a few yards to 

 approach the fugitive and timorous female. Like the 

 domestic pigeon and other species, they caress each other 

 by billing, in which action, the bill of the one is intro- 

 duced transversely into that of the other, and both par- 

 ties alternately disgorge the contents of their crops by 

 repeated efforts. These preliminary affairs are soon set- 

 tled, and the pigeons commence their nests in general 

 peace and harmony. They are composed of a few dry 

 twigs, crossing each other, and are supported by forks 

 of the branches. On the same tree from fifty to a hun- 

 dred nests may frequently be seen : I might say a much 

 greater number, were I not anxious, kind reader, that 

 however wonderful my account of the wild pigeons is, 

 you may not feel disposed to refer it to the mar- 

 velous. The eggs are two in number, of a broadly 

 elliptical form, and pure white. During incubation, the 

 male supplies the female with food. Indeed, the tender- 

 ness and affection displayed by these birds toward 

 their mates, are in the highest degree striking. It is a 

 remarkable fact that each brood generally consists of a 

 male and a female. 



Here again, the tyrant of the creation, man, inter- 

 feres, disturbing the harmony of this peaceful scene. 

 As the young birds grow up, their enemies armed with 



