MIGRATIONS OF THE PIGEONS. 127 



flew out of range, and I had no chance, therefore, of 

 making a gap in their serried ranks ; so I conceived the 

 idea of counting how many troops flew over my head in 



mixture of azure, gold, purple, and emerald, unequalled in the whole feathered 

 race, except in the humming-bird. The head of the male is of an ashy blue ; 

 his breast of a nut-like colour, tinged with red ; his neck is diapered with 

 emerald, gold, and scarlet ; the blue wings are thickly sprinkled with black 

 and brown spots ; the belly is white as snow. The tail, wedge-shaped, and of 

 great length, is traversed by a band of brilliant black, and the legs are red like 

 those of the bartavelle partridge. The female of the American pigeon has no 

 dazzling colours ; her feathers are of an ashy gray, mingled with black and 

 deep chestnut. The only graces which she derives from nature are those of 

 her forms, which are supple and slender, and the limpidity of her flame-hued 

 eyes. 



The migrations of these passenger-pigeons have been attributed by different 

 naturalists to the imperious necessity of avoiding the rigorous cold of the 

 misty climates of the north, and seeking a milder temperature. Such, how- 

 ever, is not the cause ; they are brought southwards by the scarcity of the 

 fruits which form their principal subsistence. It is only after having ex- 

 hausted all the resources of the territory on which they settle that they resume 

 their flight, and move to another district. Several inhabitants of Kentucky 

 and Illinois have assured me, that after dwelling for three or four years in the 

 woods of those two states, the pigeons all disappeared in a single morning, be- 

 cause they could find no more nuts to feed upon. It was not until 1845 that 

 they returned in great numbers. The harvest in that year was magnificent, 

 and the thieves came to take their share of it. 



Belonging to the species known in England as the carrier-pigeon, and em- 

 ployed in the transmission of intelligence (at least, before the invention of the 

 electric telegraph), American pigeons possess a prodigious power of flight. 

 Thus, I have killed in the state of New York several individuals of the species 

 whose stomachs were still full of grains of rice gathered by them in Georgia 

 or Carolina ; and as it is known that the most indigestible substances cannot 

 resist for more than twelve hours the action of the gastric juice, we must hence 

 conclude that my pigeons in six hours had traversed a space of three to four 

 hundred miles, or about one mile per minute. If this be correct, in two days 

 they coiild cross the Atlantic, and fly from New York to London. 



The American pigeons, thanks to their faculty of flight, which surpasses that 

 of any other bird, are also endowed, in a very remarkable degree, with the gift 

 of sight. They do not need to pause for the purpose of exploring the district 

 over which they speed, and discovering >whether it possesses their favourite 

 seeds and fruits. Sometimes you will see them rise to a great height, and 

 extend their battalions in all directions ; they are then engaged in recon- 

 noitring the ground. Sometimes they close up in a compact body, descend 

 towards earth, and seem to consult with one another ; they have then made a 

 fortunate discovery, and the supplies beneath them are abundant. 



Everything in the structure of these birds their nervous wings, their bifur- 

 cated tails, the oval of their bodies points to an organization adapted to 

 sustain a rapid flight and prolonged respiration ; and although such an organi- 

 zation would seem incompatible with tenderness' of flesh, this game is much 

 sought after in America, and regarded as an exquisite dish. 



