CHAPTER XVI 



A STOKY FKOM AUDUBON 1 



T T ERE is what we are told on this subject by the 

 A A celebrated ornithologist, Audubon, whom I 

 have already quoted in describing to you the habits 

 of the turkey as it is found in its free state in the 

 great forests of its native land. 



i ' l The passenger pigeon, or, as it is usually named 

 in America, the wild pigeon, moves with extreme 

 rapidity, propelling itself by quickly repeated flaps 

 of the wing, which it brings more or less near the 

 body, according to the degree of velocity which is 

 required. . . . 



" 'This great power of flight is seconded by as 

 great a power of vision, which enables them, as they 

 travel at that swift rate, to inspect the country below, 

 discover their food with facility, and thus obtain the 

 object for which their journey has been undertaken. 

 This I have also proved to be the case, by having ob- 

 served them, when passing over a sterile part of the 

 country, or one scantily furnished with food suited 

 to them, keep high in the air, flying with an extended 



i Audubon's narrative ("Ornithological Biography," vol. T, pp. 319- 

 324) is here reproduced with greater accuracy than the French 

 writer chose to observe. The omissions indicated occur in the 

 French, but are not there indicated. Translator. 



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