COLUMBUS. 141 



THE PASSENGER PIGEON. Ectopistes migratorm. This 

 bird, which is a native of North America and ranges over 

 nearly the whole of that vast continent, has been taken in Bri- 

 tain, but can only be considered a straggler here. In America 

 it is termed the Wild Pigeon, and is celebrated (as well it 

 may be) for inundating, in flocks of thousands, various dis- 

 tricts to which, at uncertain periods, it resorts for food. 

 The accounts given by Audubon, Wilson, and others, of the 

 multitudes of these birds which congregate together in North 

 America would almost exceed belief, were they not placed 

 beyond the power of doubt by the character of the writers 

 and their agreement in the statement of the facts. 



Mr. Audubon says, " In passing over the Barrens, a few 

 miles beyond Hardensburgh, I observed the pigeons flying 

 from north-east to south-west, in greater numbers than I 

 thought I had ever seen them before ; and feeling an incli- 

 nation to count the flocks that might pass within the reach 

 of my eye in one hour, I dismounted, seated myself on an 

 eminence, and began to mark with my pencil, making a dot 

 for every flock that passed. In a short time, finding the 

 task I had undertaken impracticable, as the birds poured 

 on in countless multitudes, I rose, and counting the dots 

 then put down, found that one hundred and sixty-three had 



