PIGEONS AT HOME. 



135 



was seated with my feathered spoil and I gave him half 

 a dollar to carry it to the steam-boat bound for New 

 York. 



American pigeons are found everywhere in the terri- 

 tory of the Union ; but, in general, these birds select the 

 secluded and unfrequented woods on the borders of the 

 civilized districts, and the vast deserts which abut on the 



THE MALE MOUNTS GUARD, AND PROTECTS HIS COMPANION. ' 



prairies. The season of incubation offers a striking con- 

 trast to the chaotic and confused scenes which I have 

 been describing. If my readers accompanied me into the 

 leafy depths of the forests of the Ohio and the Missis- 

 sippi, they would hear nothing but incessant cooings ; 

 would be witnesses only of proofs of tender affection and 

 marks of tenderness on the part of the male pigeon to- 

 wards his mate. Above their heads, in the tree-tops, they 

 would perceive a host of close-packed nests, constructed of 



