itiuus. 215 



and delight in open, mountainous, sandy countries. But Uiey 

 build their nests in the midst of woods, and choose the most re- , 

 tired situations for incubation. They feed upon all sorts of 

 grain, but are fondest of millet-seed. 



after six in tlie evening. The great breadth of front which tliis niiglity 

 multitude preserved would seem to intimate a corresponding breadtli of 

 tlu'ir breeding place, wliich, by several gentlemen, who had lately pjissfd 

 through part of it, was stated to me at several miles. It was said to be in 

 (ireen county, and that the young began to fly about the middle of Marcli. 

 On the 17th of April, forty-nine miles beyond Danville, and not far from 

 (ireen Uiver, I crossed this Siune breeding place, where the nests, for more 

 than three miles, spotted every tree ; the leaves not being yet out, 1 had a 

 fair prospect of them, and was really astonished at their numbers. A few 

 bodies of pigeons lingered yet in diflerent parts of the woods, the roaring of 

 whose wings was heard in various quarters around me. 



" All accounts agree in stating, that each nest contains only one young 

 sqviab. These are so extremely fat, that the Indians, and many of the 

 whites, are accustomed to melt down the fat, for domestic purposes, as a 

 substitute for butter and lard. At the time they leave the nest, they are 

 nearly as heavy as tlie old ones ; but become much leaner, after they are 

 turned out to shift for themselves. 



" It is universally asserted in the western countries, that the pigeons, 

 though they have only one young at a time, breed thrice, and sometimes 

 four times, in the same season ; the circumstances already mentioned render 

 this highly probable. It is also worthy of observation, that this takes place 

 during that period when acorns, beech nuts, &c. are scattered about in the 

 greatest abundance, and mellowed by the frost But they iu^e not confined 

 to these alone, — buckwheat, hempseed, Indian corn, hollyberries, hackberries, 

 huckleberries, and many others, furnish them with abundance at abnost all 

 seasons. The acorns of the live oak are also eagerly sought after by these 

 birds, and rice has been frequently found in individuals killed many hundred 

 miles to the northward of the nearest rice plantation. The vast quantity of 

 mast which these multitudes consume is a serious loss to the bears, pigs, squir- 

 rels, and other dependents on the fruits of the forest. I have taken, from the 

 crop of a single wild pigeon, a good handful of the kernels of beech nuts, 

 intermixed with acorns and chestnuts. To form a rough estimate of the 

 daily consumption of one of these immense flocks, let us first attempt to 

 calculate the numbers of that above mentioned, as seen in passing between 

 Frankfort and the Indiana territory : If we suppose this column to have 

 been one mile in breadth (and I believe to have been much more), and that 

 it moved at the rate of one mile in a minute, four hours, the time it continued 

 passing, woiJd make its whole length two hundred and forty miles. Again, 

 supposing that each square yard of this moving body comprehended three 

 pigeons, the square yards in the whole space, multiplied by three, would 

 give two thousand two hundred and tliirty millions, two hundred and 

 seventy-two thousand pigeons ! — an almost inconceivable multitude, and 

 yet probably far below the actual amount. Computing each of these to 

 consume half a pint of mast daily, the whole quantity at this rate would 

 equal seventeen millions, four hundred and tweuty.four thousand bu.<<hela 



