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 



"THK MALI: 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- 

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

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



