442 A. H. Wright, Early Records of the Passenger Pigeon. [o" 



Auk 

 t. 



In 1832, Timothy Flint remarks ^ that, " Pigeons sometimes 

 are seen in great flocks. Their social and gregarious habits in- 

 cline them to roost together, and their places of resort are called 

 'pigeon roosts.' In these places they settle on all the trees for a 

 considerable distance around, in such numbers, as to break off 

 the branches." 



In the same year, Vigne notes ' " the woodcock, snipe, pigeons 

 and wild fowl, in great abundance," and says, "I amused myself 

 with shooting pigeons which are to be found on the island (Macki- 

 nac) in great numbers. I was quite surprised at the extraordinary 

 facility and cjuickness of eye, with which my guide, half Indian 

 and half Canadian, discovered them sitting in the thickest foliage." 



Some years later Hugh Murray gives '' a more pertinent note 

 when he marvels at the numbers in the pigeon flocks. "But no 

 bird equals in number the wild pigeons which, at particular seasons, 

 move in vast flocks, or rather swarms, that darken the air like 

 locusts. A body of them once hovered three or four days over 

 the capital, when a continued war was carried on against them 

 by all who could muster fire-arms of any description. The feath- 

 ered tribes, in unfrequented places, fall easy victims, owing to 

 their having no fear of man." 



And, finally, in 1844, Featherstonhaugh in an "Excursion 

 through The Slave States " :* " A new and very interesting spectacle 

 presented itself, in the incredible quantities of wild pigeons that 

 were abroad; flocks of them many miles long came across the 

 country, one flight succeeding to another, obscuring the daylight, 

 and in their swift motion creating a wind, and producing a rushing 

 and startling sound, that cataracts of the first class might be proud 

 of. These flights of wild pigeons constitute one of the most re- 

 markable phenomena of the western country. I remember once, 

 when amongst the Indians, seeing the woods loaded from top to 



1 Flint, Timothy. The History and Geography of the Mississippi Valley. 

 Second edition. Cincinnati, 1832. Vol. I, p. 73. 



2 Vigne, Godfrey T. Six Months in America. 2 vols. London, 1832. Vol. 

 I, p. 89; vol. II, p. 115. 



3 Murray, Hugh. An Historical and Descriptive Account of British America. 

 3 vols. Edinburgh, 1839. Vol. I. p. 350. 



« Featherstonhaugh, G. W. Excursion through The Slave States. New York, 

 1844, p. 88 (Arkansas). 



