1911 J Wright, Early Records of the Passetiger Pigeon. 363 



In 'New York in 1692, [a] Letter from Chas. Lodwick. . . . 

 Dated May 20, 1692,' says l "wild pidgeons are here in aboundance; 

 they breed up ye country some hundreds of miles of from us North- 

 ward, and come flying in great quantity in ye Spring, and pass to 

 ye Southward, and return to us about ye time our corn is ripe, 

 and settle in ye Trees, and on ye corn Lands in great numbers." 

 In 1699, we close the century with Viele's observation made at 

 Onondaga. On April 30, he says, 2 "We sent for the Saehims of 

 Cayouge . . . . ; Not far from Cayouge the Messenger met a Cay- 

 ouge Indian who told him that all their Indians young and old, 

 were in the woods to fetch young pidgeons." 



In June, 1749, Peter Kalm when travelling above Albany, 3 "saw 

 immense numbers of those wild pigeons flying in the woods, 

 which sometimes come in incredible flocks to the southern English 

 colonies, most of the inhabitants not knowing where they come 

 from. They have their nests in the trees here; and almost all the 

 night make a great noise and cooing in the trees, where they roost. 

 The Frenchmen shot a great number of them, and gave us some, 

 in which we found a great quantity of the seeds of the elm, which 

 evidently demonstrated the care of Providence in supplying them 

 with food; for in May the seeds of the red maple, which abounds 

 here, are ripe, and drop from the trees, and are eaten by the pigeons 

 during that time; afterwards, the seeds of the elm ripen, which 

 then become their food, till the other seeds ripen for them. Their 

 flesh is the most palatable of any bird's flesh I ever tasted. 



"Almost every night we heard some trees crack and fall, whilst 

 we lay here in the wood, though the air is so calm that not a leaf 

 stirred. The reason of this breaking I am totally unacquainted 



with It may be, that the above-mentioned wild pigeons 



settle in such quantities on one tree as to weigh it down." 



In a 'Journey to Oghquaga' (Broome Co.), Rev. Gideon Hawley, 

 1753, remarks: 4 "It may not be impertinent to observe, that 

 in this wilderness, we neither hear nor see any birds of musick 



1 N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll., N. S., Vol. II, 1S49, p. 246. 



2 Journal of Arnout Cornelisse Viele's Negotiations at Onondaga. Documents 

 Relating to the Colonial History of New York, Vol. IV, pp. 561, 563. 



3 Travels into North America, etc. Transl. by John R. Forster. Vol. II, 1771, 

 pp. 311, 312. 



4 Doc. Hist. N. Y., Vol. Ill, 1S50, p. 1042 (Svo edit.), or Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 

 Vol. IV, 1795, pp. 61, 62. 



