60 Kalm, Wild Pigeons in North America. [jan. 



from the trees into the air. In some places the trees were full 

 of their nests. The Frenchmen whom we met in this place had 

 shot a great number of them, and of this they gave us a goodly 

 share. These Pigeons kept up a noisy murmuring and cooing 

 sound all night, during which time the trees were full of them, 

 and it was difficult to obtain peaceful sleep on account of their 

 continuous noise. In this wilderness we could hear in the night 

 time, during the calmest weather, big trees collapsing in the forests, 

 which during the silence of the night caused tremendous reports: 

 this might in all probability be ascribed to the Pigeons, which 

 according to their custom had loaded a tree down with their 

 numbers to such an extent that it broke down: although other 

 causes might also be found, whereof more is mentioned in the third 

 volume of my American Journey. The additional observations 

 which I had occasion to make as to their economy and manner 

 of life, during my stay in North America, both in Canada, the 

 wilderness of the English Colonies, and in the land of the sav- 

 ages, 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 further 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 gradually cultivated by man, the Pigeons move further 

 away into the wilderness. 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. 



