PIGEONS 1N FLIGHT. 429 
flights succeeded each other so rapidly. He says: “The more I 
advanced, the more pigeons I met. The air was literally filled 
with them. The daylight in full mid-day was obscured as by 
an eclipse ; the dung fell like flakes in a fall of snow; the buzzing 
of their wings stunned me, and gave mea sleepy sensation.” These 
Pigeons are endowed with very strong sight. When flying at a 
considerable height they can perfectly distinguish the places which 
will furnish them with the means of subsistence. Having found 
a suitable country, they alight, and in a few minutes completely 
ravage it. Large quantities of them can then be destroyed 
without any apparent diminution in their number. Some hours 
after their descent they again take to flight, to regain their nocturnal 
domicile, frequently twenty or thirty miles distant, where a frightful 
slaughter is often made amongst them. Long before the sun 
sets the inhabitants of surrounding counties await them with horses, 
carts, guns, and ammunition. Some even bring flocks of pigs, 
to fatten on the flesh of the pigeons which the destroyers are 
unable to carry away. Audubon, who assisted at one of these 
slaughters, has related it as follows. He says: “‘ Every one holds 
himself in readiness, with eyes directed towards the heavens. 
Suddenly a general cry of ‘They come!’ resounds. The _ noise 
which they made, although at a distance, reminded me of a strong 
sea-breeze amongst the cordage of a ship, the sails of which are 
furled. When they passed above my head I felt a current of air 
which astonished me. Thousands were already struck down by 
men armed with poles, but they continued to arrive without inter- 
mission. Fires were lit, and it was then a fantastic sight full of 
frightful magnificence. The birds precipitated themselves in masses, 
and pitched where they could, one upon the other, in large heaps 
like barrels. Then the branches gave way under the weight, cracked 
and fell, bringing to the ground and crushing the closely-packed 
flocks, which covered every part of the trees. It was a lamentable 
scene of tumult and confusion. In vain I tried to speak, or even 
to call the persons nearest to me. It was with difficulty that I 
could hear the guns fire, and I only perceived they had fired by 
seeing them reload their arms. Pigeons continued to come, and 
it was past midnight before I noticed any diminution in the number 
of the arrivals. ‘The uproar continued all night. At last the day 
approached, the noise began to abate a little, and long before we 
could distinguish objects, the pigeons commenced to start in quite 
an opposite direction to that in which they had come in the evening. 
At sunrise all that were capable of flying had disappeared. Now 
