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great flight of wild pigeons which had come under his 

 observation, from which the following is an extract : — 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE FLIGHT OF THE AMERICAN PASSENGER 

 PIGEON, AT MADISON, IND., MARCH, ]855. 



On the afternoon of Friday, March 9, 1855, 1 observed the 

 sky, in distant spots, obscured by singular looking clouds, or 

 patches of clouds, and soon discovered that they were living 

 flocks. At first they were so distant as to be scarcely percepti- 

 ble ; but as they advanced, and became more distinct, the eye 

 was gratified by the view of immense masses of birds^ moving 

 in regular lines of array, in distinct companies, and evidently 

 obeying some strong impulse. The front line moved somewhat 

 lower, as it approached, yet still was high in the air, and formed 

 a flock of more than a mile in length, and from one quarter to 

 one third of a mile in breadth. It covered about one third of 

 the whole visible horizon in its centre, in length, and resembled 

 in its movements a ground swell at sea, or the progress of a 

 great serpent. Its continuity as a line was unbroken, and yet it 

 seemed to have two divisions, with centres slightly advanced, as 

 if about to form the letter V, and having a centre-bird in com- 

 mand of each portion as its leader. The numbers were so 

 great that the sound of their flight was like the roar of a distant 

 water-fall, or the rushing of the wind through the leafless trees ; 

 and as I measured their speed in movement, by comparing it 

 with that of the steamer Jacob Strader, a packet 325 feet long, 

 then moving up the river, it did not seem much to exceed that of 

 the steamer. I was struck with the strong and rapid flight of 

 these little birds against the wind, and as compared with that of 

 migratory birds I had seen in the neighborhood of Boston. They 

 evidently had an object, and were intent upon it. There seemed 

 to be no stragglers ; no lagging behind ; no uncertainty of flight. 

 The wavy motion of the line in various directions, I attributed to 

 the occasional shots from below, or perhaps to the presence of 

 some bird of prey ; but nothing seemed to break the continuity 

 of the line of flight. When scared from their course by the 

 sportsmen, they invariably circled back to the general line, as if 



