TRAVELLER PIGEONS. 455 



endowed with very strong sight. When flying at a considerable 

 height they can perfectly distinguish the places which will furnish 

 them with the ineans of subsistence. Having found a suitable 

 country, they alight upon an immense space of ground, and in a 

 few minutes completely ravage it. Large quantities of them can 

 then be destroyed without any apparent diminution in their num- 

 ber. Some hours after their descent they again take to flight, and 

 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 intermission. Fires were lit, and it was then a 

 fantastic sight full of frightful magnificence. The birds pre- 

 cipitated 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 even- 

 ing. At sunrise all that were capable of flying had disappeafed. 



