MIGRATION. 177 



before. . . . The air seemed filled with pigeons, 

 and the light of noonday to be obscured as by an 

 eclipse. Not a single bird alighted, as the woods 

 were destitute of mast, and all flew so high that 

 he failed to reach any with a rifle. He speaks 

 of their aerial evolutions as beautiful in the 

 extreme, especially when a hawk pressed upon 

 the rear of a flock. All at once, like a torrent, 

 and with a noise like that of thunder, they rushed 

 together into a compact mass, and darted forward 

 in undulating lines, descending and sweeping 

 over the earth with marvellous velocity; then 

 mounting almost perpendicularly in a vast 

 column, wheeling and twisting so that their 

 continued lines seemed to resemble the coils of 

 a gigantic serpent. During the whole of his 

 journey from Hardensburg to Louisville, 54 

 miles, they continued to pass in undiminished 

 numbers, and also did so during the three follow- 

 ing days. At times they flew so low that multi- 

 tudes were destroyed, and for many days the 

 entire population seemed to eat nothing but 

 pigeons." 



" There can be little doubt," to quote another 

 writer, "but that the vast numbers of these 

 pigeons have greatly diminished during recent 

 years; and though at present by no means on 

 the verge of extinction, it seems certain that 

 unless laws be made for its protection its exter- 

 mination is only a matter of time." Mr Brewster 

 writes that in Michigan, " we found the flocks of 

 pigeons had passed there late in April, while there 

 were reports of similar flights from almost every 

 country in the southern part of the State. Al- 



M 



