26 THE BIRDS OF 



In Audubon's time Passenger Pigeons 

 were to be found in millions, and the 

 following is an extract from the account 

 of that famous naturalist: ^' In the 

 autumn of 1813, on the banks of the 

 Ohio, I observed the Pigeons flying 

 from north-east to south-west, and in 

 greater numbers than I thought I had 

 ever seen them before, and feeling an 

 inclination to count the flocks that might 

 pass within the reach of my eye in one 

 hour, I dismounted, seated myself on 

 an eminence, and began to mark with 

 my pencil, making a dot for every flock 

 that passed. In a short time, finding 

 the task which I had undertaken im- 

 practicable, as the birds poured in in 

 countless multitudes, I rose, and count- 

 ing the dots then put down, found that 

 one hundred and sixty-three had been 

 made in twenty-one minutes. I trav- 

 eled on, and still met more the farther 



