58 



THE GEXESEE FARAIER. 







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Evert oxe who has had anj acquaintance with 

 the Passenger, or W.ild Pigeon, as he is nniversally 

 called in this country, will readily admit that he is 

 an exceedingly interesting bird. His extraordinary 

 powers of tiight are almost incredible. And it is 

 well that their power of wing is so great ; for were 

 the enormous flocks to be confined to one place, 

 they would devour the whole of the grain. They 

 have been killed in this State with Carolina rice 

 still in their crops. As their digestion is remark- 

 ably rapid, these birds must have flown between 

 three and four hundred miles in six hours, giving 

 an average speed of a mile a minute. 



The Wild Pigeon breeds in this State, where it is 

 found at almost all seasons of the year. In certain 

 years they make their appearance in almost incred- 

 ible numbers, literally darkening the air, and break- 

 ing down trees with their weight. The stories that 

 sire told respecting the extent of these flocks, could 

 liot be credited, did they not come from such men 

 as Wilson, Audubo>7, and others. The late I)e 

 Witt Ooixtox remarks, in a letter to Dr. Feancis, 

 tliat "in February, 1742, when the Hudson was 

 frozen solid at New York, and the snow a foot deep, 

 fiocks of these birds appeared in greater numbers 

 than were ever known before." Large flocks were 

 also observed about Albany, and in the northern 

 parts of the State, during the Avinter of 1819. 



At the breeding season, the overwhelming mul- 

 titudes of pigeons that settle on one spot almost 

 exceed belief. Wilson, who was present at one of 

 these breeding places, gives the following account: 

 ''Not fi-r from Shelby ville, Kentucky, there was one 

 ef these breeding places, which stretched through 

 the woods in nearly a north and south direction, 

 was several mil-es in breadth, and was said to be 

 upward of forty miles An extent! In this tract 

 almost every tree was furnished with nests, where- 

 -over the branches could accommodate them. The 

 pigeons made their first appearance there about the 

 10th of April, and left it altogether^ with their 

 young, before the 25th of May, As s>xjn as the 

 young were fully grown, and before they left the 

 nests, numerous parties -of the inhabitants, from all 

 $)arts of the adjacent country, came Avith wagons, 

 .axes, beds, cooking utensils, many of ithem accom- 



panied by the .greater part of their families, and 

 encamped for several days at this immense nursery. 

 Several of them informed me that the noise in the 

 woods was so great as to terrify tlicir horses, and 

 that it was difficult fur one perscm to hear another 

 speak without bawling in his ear. The ground was 

 strewed with broken limbs of trees, eggs, and youn" 

 squab pigeons, which had been precipitated from 

 above, and on which herds of hogs were fattening. 

 Hawks, buzzards, and eagles, were sailing about in 

 great numbers, and sjizing the squabs from their 

 nests at pleasure; while from twenty feet upward 

 to the tops of the trees, the view tlirongh the woods 

 presented a pei-petual tumult of crowding and flut- 

 tering multitudes of pigeons, their wings roaring like 

 thunder, mingled with the crash of falling timber — 

 tor now the axe-men were at work cutting down 

 tliose trees that seemed to be the most crowded 

 with nests, and contrived to fell them in such a 

 manner that in their descent they miglit bring down 

 several others, by which means the falling of one 

 large tree sometimes produced two hundred Sfjuabs 

 little inferior in size to the old ones, and almost one 

 mass of fat. 



"All accounts agree in stating that each nest 

 contains only one young squab. These are so ex- 

 tremely fat that the Indians nnd many of the whites 

 are accustomed to nie5t down tlie fat for domestic 

 purposes, as a substitute for butter and lard." 



AuDTHJOx gives quite an astonishing account of 

 the flight of the Wild Pigeon. He says: "In the 

 autumn of 1813, I left my home on the banks of the 

 Ohio, on my way to Louisville. In passing over 

 the barrens, I observed the pigeons passing fi-om 

 the northeast to the southwest, in greater numbers 

 than I thought I had ever seen them before. I 

 traveled on, and still met more the further I pro- 

 ceeded. Tlie air was literally filled with them. 

 The light of the sun at noon-day was obscured, as 

 if by an eclipse. Before sunset, I reached Louis- 

 ville, distant from the ])laoe where I first observed 

 them about fifty-five miles. The pigeons were still 

 passing in undiminished numbers, and continued to 

 do so for three days in succession. The people were 

 all in arms. The banks of the Ohio were crowded 

 with men and boys continually shooting at the 

 pigeons, which flew lower as they pai^sed the river. 

 Multitudes were thus destroye<l. For a week or 

 more, the principal food of the population was that 

 of pigeons." 



In estimating the number of tliose mighty flocks, 

 and the food consumed by them daily, Mr. Audu- 

 bon says: "Let us take a column of one mile in 

 breadth, which is far jjelow the average size, and 

 suppose it passing over us at the rate of one mile 

 per minute. This will give us an oblong square of 

 one hundred and eighty miles in length by one mile 

 in breadth ; and, allowing two jiigeons to a square 

 yard, we have one billioa, one hundred and fifteen 

 millions, and one hundred and thirty-six thousand 

 pigeons in one fioek ; and as every pigeon consumes 

 at least half a pint a day, the quantity required to 

 feed such a flock must be eight millions seven hun- 

 dred HiUd twelve thousand bushels per day ! " 



These are tough stories, indeed ; there 's no dis- 

 puting that. But when such witnesses as Wilson 

 and Audubon are brought upon the stand, we can 

 hardly help believing that the stories must have a 

 pretty broad foundation, to say the least. 



