THE PIGEONS, GROUSE, AND SHORE-BIRDS. 



221 



I sent off a man accustomed to perambulate the forest, who, 

 returning two hours afterwards, informed me he had heard 

 it distinctly when three miles distant from the spot. To- 

 wards the approach of day the noise in some measure sub- 

 sided. Long before objects were distinguishable, the pigeons 

 began to move off in a direction cjuite different from that in 

 which they arrived the evening before, and by sunrise all that 

 were able to fly had disappeared. The howlings of the 

 wolves now reached our ears, and the foxes, lynxes, cougars, 



TH E M< IUENING-DOVE. 

 {After Biological Survey.) 



bears, raccoons, opossums, and polecats were seen sneaking 

 off, whilst eagles and hawks of different species, accompanied 

 by a crowd of vultures, came to supplant them and to enjoy 

 their share of the spoil. 



" It was then that the authors of all this devastation began 

 their entry amongst the dead, the dying, and the mangled. 

 The pigeons were picked up and piled in heaps until each 

 had as many as he could possibly dispose of, when the hogs 

 were let loose to feed upon the remainder. 1 ' 



