THE PASSENGER PIGEON—-KALM AND AUDUBON. 413 
suitable quarters and industriously fed, whereupon they are killed 
and eaten. To make doubly sure that they do not escape, one 
of their wings is generally cut short, so that even in case they do 
get out they can not fly away. Such nestlings have a good appetite. 
thrive comfortably, become quite tame, and within a short time, if 
well taken care of, accumulate so much fat that they afford a most 
palatable dish. 
For food these pigeons select the following fruits, which I will 
name in the order that they mature: 
Seeds of the red-flowered maple (Acer); these mature in Penn- 
sylvania at the end of May, but somewhat later farther north. 
Seeds of the American elm (Ulmus americana); these mature in 
Pennsylvania in the beginning or middle of June, but farther north 
somewhat later. When on our journey through the wilds between 
Albany and Canada we cut up some of the pigeons which the French 
had shot and given us, their crops were generally found to be full of 
elm seeds. 
Mulberries, which ripen in Pennsylvania in the beginning of June 
(new style), are relished by these pigeons almost above everything 
else. During my stay in the last-mentioned locality, in 1750, I 
noticed that as soon as the mulberries became ripe the pigeons put 
in their appearance in great numbers. Wherever a mulberry tree 
grew wild it was at this time generally full of pigeons, which devoured 
the berries. They often chused me much vexation, because if I had 
located a mulberry tree in the woods with the intention of securing 
seeds when the berries became ripe and it should happen that I did 
not watch out for the proper time, the pigeons had generally, in the 
meanwhile, been so industrious in their picking that on my arrival 
scarcely a single berry was left. If some of them were shot the others 
generally flew away a little distance, but returned within a few 
minutes to the same mulberry tree; so that a person who owned 
such trees found no difficulty to obtain daily a sufficient quantity of 
choice meat as long as the mulberries lasted. 
They consume all kinds of grain with the single exception of corn, 
which is left untouched by them,. although it has other enemies. 
I noticed that they were particularly fond of the following kinds of 
grain: 
They ate rye, although not with particular avidity, but rather 
as if in the absence of something else more palatable. Some persons 
assured me that they had seen with their own eyes how these pigeons, 
during summer time, when they had come to a ripe wheat field, 
alighted on the fences, vomited up the rye on which they had pre- 
viously feasted, and then swooped down upon the wheat field, where 
they gorged their crops with wheat, as being more appetizing. 
