136 PIGEON-MASSACRE. : 



interlaced and interwoven twigs, so as to form a slight 

 concavity, in which two or three eggs are deposited. 

 Upon these the male and female sit alternately. The 

 male alone mounts guard, and protects his companion. 

 It is he who goes forth in quest of provisions, and who 

 returns in due time to place himself on the nest and 

 shelter its treasures with his wings. 



Very frequently the incubation succeeds, and crowns 

 the tender efforts of the affectionate couple. But this 

 fortunate result only takes place when man has not dis- 

 covered the frail aerial dwelling. Woe to the birds if 

 any hunters or settlers pass in their vicinity ! Massacres 

 far more terrible than those I have described " incarna- 

 dine " the ground, and strike terror in the heart of each 

 inoffensive household. The axe strikes at the trunks of 

 the trees, which fall in the clearing, and bring down with 

 them the young pigeons, and the nests where they were 

 hatched. Caught, killed, and roasted, they are eaten 

 before the very eyes of their parents, who fly around the 

 butchers of their progeny, and fill the echoes of the forest 

 with pitiful cries, which pass all unheeded by the savage 

 hunters. 



As the reader will infer from the foregoing remarks, 

 this variety of game is, in America, threatened with 

 destruction. In proportion as civilization extends into 

 the vast wildernesses of the West, men increase in 

 number, and the human race, which everywhere reigns 

 despotically, and permits no restraint upon its tyranny, 

 gradually destroys the communities of animals. Already 

 the deer, the goats, and the great horned cattle which 

 peopled the ancient colonies of England, have almost dis- 

 appeared in the principal states of the Union. The herds 



