HISTORY OF VERMONT. 137 



licsts. The surveyor, Richard Hazcn^ who ran 

 tlie line which divides Massachusetts from Ver- 

 mont, in 1741, gave this account of the appear- 

 ances, which he met with to the westward of 

 Connecticut river. " For three miles together 

 the pigeons' nests were so thick, that five hun- 

 dred might lv:ve been told on the beech-trees at 

 one time ; and could they have been counted on 

 tlie hemlocks, as well, I doubt not but five thou- 

 sand at one turn round."* The remarks of 

 the first settlers of Vermont, fully confirm this 

 account. The follo\\ ing relation was given mc, 

 by one of the earliest settlers at Cendon : 

 " the number of pigeons was immense. Twen- 

 ty five nests were Irequently to be found on 

 one tree. The earth was covered with 

 these beech trees, and with hemlocks, thus load- 

 ed with the nests of pigeons. For an hundred 

 acres together, the ground was covei^d with 

 their dung, tg the depth of two inches. Their 

 noise in the evening was extremely troublesome, 

 and so great that the traveller could not get any 

 sleep, where their nests were thick. About an 

 hour after sunrise, they rose in such numbers 

 as to darken the air. When the young pigeons 

 were grown to a considerable bigness, before 

 they could readily fly, it v.as common for the 

 settlers to cut down the trees, and gatlier a horse 

 load in a few minutes," This account may 

 appear improbable to those who have not ob- 

 served the fecundity of nature. But it falls 

 much short of what has been observed in the 

 state of Oliio. The following is from Harris' $ 



♦ Belksap'i hwtory ofNcwhsrapshirc, Vol, III. p. 171, 



