412 ANNUAL, REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1911. 



also be found, whereof more is mentioned in the third volume of my 

 American Journey. The additional observations which I had occa- 

 sion to make as to their economy and manner of life during my stay 

 in North America, both in Canada, the wilderness of the English colo- 

 nies, and in the land of the savages, are as follows : 



The birds spend the entire summer in Canada, and particularly do 

 they nest in the vast wild forests and wastes which abound there, 

 where no men are to be found and where seldom any human being 

 ventures. When in summer a person travels through these forests 

 he might easily become terrified by the enormous number of these 

 birds, which in some places almost entirely cover the branches of the 

 trees, and when taking wing obscure the sky. These pigeons have, 

 however, their distinct boundaries, outside of which they do not often 

 venture; as, for example, somewhat south of Bay St. Paul, which is 

 20 French miles north of Quebec, not very many of them nest in the 

 woods; and the cause of this is said to be that the oak and the beech 

 tree, which supply them with their principal food, are here arrested 

 in their growth, and grow no farther north. 



In forests where there are human settlements, or where the country 

 is inhabited, only a few are to be seen; and as the land is being gradu- 

 allv cultivated by man the pigeons move farther away into the wilder- 

 ness. It is maintained that the cause of this is partly that their 

 nests and young are disturbed by boys, partly their own sense of a 

 lack of safety, and finally that during a great part of the year their 

 food is shared by the swine. 



They build their nests in high trees, pine trees as well as deciduous 

 ones; often as many as 40 or 50 nests are to be found in the same 

 tree. 



Some maintain that they raise two broods of young every summer. 



In places where they nest in abundance the ground is often covered 

 with their droppings to a thickness of 1 to 2 feet. 



While these birds are hatching their young, or while the latter 

 are not yet able to fly, the savages or Indians in North America 

 are in the habit of never shooting or killing them, nor of allowing 

 others to do so, pretending that it would be a great pity on their 

 young, which would in that case have to starve to death. Some 

 of the Frenchmen told me that they had set out with the intention 

 of shooting some of them at that season of the year, but that the 

 savages had at first with kindness endeavored to dissuade them 

 from such a purpose, and later added threats to their entreaties 

 when the latter were of no avail. 



In Canada it is almost everywhere the custom for young farm 

 hands and boys to investigate where the pigeons have their nests, 

 and as soon as the young are able to fly they are taken from the 

 nest and brought to the farm, where they are afterwards kept in 



