LIFE-HISTORIES OF BIRDS 



forest-belt, several miles in width, and more than forty 

 miles in length. In this immense tract, nearly eyery 

 tree was occupied by nests, where suitable branches ex- 

 isted. The noise which escaped from such a body was so 

 great, that it was with difficulty that the human voice could 

 be heard above the din. The ground beneath was literally 

 strewn with eggs, young birds, and broken branches. The 

 trees were crowded with tumultuous and Muttering Pigeons 

 from twenty feet up to their summits. The yibrations 

 of their wings resounded like thunder, with which was 

 occasionally intermingled the crash of tailing timbers. 

 In a single tree, he counted ninety nests. On his journey 

 to Frankfort, he saw an immense flock, which was moving 

 with great rapidity and regularity, from right to left, as 

 far as the eye could stretch. It was several strata' deep, 

 and apparently closely crowded together. For more than 

 an hour he watched the prodigious procession which ap- 

 peared interminable. Three hours subsequently, on his 

 entrance into Frankfort, the living torrent was as dense 

 and as extended as at first. The number of Pigeons in 

 this flight was set down at upwards of two thousand two 

 hundred millions. 



Incubation is performed almost exclusively by the female. 

 The male occasionally assists her, but when not thus occu- 

 pied, he provides her with plenty of suitable nourishment. 

 Both parents are equally demonstrative in their affection to 

 their young, and to each other. The duties of feeding are 

 performed by both birds, but only one is absent from the 

 nest at a time. The young leave their parents as soon as 

 they are sufficiently matured to shift for themselves. Several 

 broods are reared in a season, but the number materially de- 

 pends upon the abundance of food. Ordinarily, both sexes 

 exist in the same nest. 



In Eastern Pennsylvania, we have taken immature birds, 

 early in August, that were clad in the characteristic plu- 

 mage which precedes the adult stage. We are inclined to 



