Birds of Pennsylvania. 53 



there flew lower as they passed the river. Multitudes were thus des- 

 troyed. For a week or more, the population ted on no other flesh than 

 that of Pigeons, and talked of nothing but Pigeons. One of these 

 curious roosting places, on the banks of the Green river in Kentucky, 

 I repeatedly visited. It was, as is always the case, in a portion of the 

 forest where the trees were of great magnitude, and wliere there was 

 little underwood. I rode through it upwards of forty miles, and cross- 

 ing it in diff"erent parts, found its average breadth to be rather more 

 than three miles. My first view of it was about a fortnight subse- 

 quent to the period when they had made choice of it, and I arrived 

 there nearly two hours before sunset. Few Pigeons were then to be 

 seen, but a great number of persons, with horses and wagons, guns 

 and ammunition, had already established encampments on the bor- 

 ders. Two farmers from the vicinity of Russellville, distant more 

 than a hundred miles, had driven upwards of 300 hogs to be fattened 

 on Pigeons which were to be slaughtered. Here and there, the peo- 

 ple employed in plucking and salting what had already been pro- 

 cured, were seen sitting in the midst of large piles of tliese birds. 

 The dung lay several inches deep, covering the whole extent of the 

 roosting-place. Many trees two feet in diameter, I observed, were 

 broken off at no great distance from the ground ; and the branches of 

 many of the largest and tallest had given way, as if the forest had 

 been swept by a tornado. Every thing proved to me that tlie num- 

 ber of birds resorting to this part of the forest must be immense be- 

 yond conception. As the period of their arrival approached, their 

 foes anxiously prepared to receive them. Some were furnished with 

 iron pots, containing sulphur, others with torches of pine knots, many 

 with poles, and the rest with guns. The sun was lost to our view, yet 

 not a Pigeon had arrived. Every thing was ready, and all eyes were 

 gazing on the clear skj^, which appeared in glimpses amidst the tall 

 trees. Suddenly there burst forth a general cry of ' Here they come !' 

 The noise which they made, though yet distant, reminded me of a 

 hard gale at sea, passing through the rigging of a close-reefed vessel. 

 As the birds arrived and passed over me, I felt a current of air that 

 surprised me. Thousands were knocked down by the pole-men. The 

 birds continued to pour in. The fires were lighted, and a magnificent, 

 as well as wonderful and almost terrifying, sight presented itself. The 

 Pigeons, arriving by thousands, alighted everywhere, one above an- 

 other, until solid masses were formed on the branches all around. 

 Here and there the perches gave way under the weight with a crash, 

 and, falling to the ground, destroyed hundreds of the birds beneath, 

 forcing down the dense groups with which every stick was loaded. It 

 was a scene of uproar and confusion. No one dared venture within 

 the line of devastation. The hogs had been penned up in due 



