246 MELTON AND HOMESPUN 



them, a single tree frequently containing well over a 

 hundred. 



The nest of the passenger-pigeon, like that of the 

 common wood-pigeon or stock-dove, was formed of a few 

 dead twigs, placed carelessly together, and with so little 

 concavity that the young were easily seen from below. 

 It is, we believe, an accepted fact amongst ornitholo- 

 gists that, though a nest of one of these birds was never 

 found to contain more than one " squab," the species 

 would breed three, and sometimes four, times during a 

 season. So exceedingly plump were the young " passen- 

 gers " that both the whites and Indians were accustomed 

 to melt down the fat for domestic purposes as a substitute 

 for butter and lard. 



Before the young pigeons were quite fully fledged, 

 numerous parties of the inhabitants of the neighbour- 

 ing country used to come with wagons, guns, axes, and 

 camping outfit, to sojourn for several days amidst the 

 immense avian nurseries. Fearful must have been the 

 slaughter; and when a man spoke he found it difficult 

 to make himself heard without howling to those whom he 

 addressed. The ground below the nest was strewn with 

 broken boughs, eggs, and young pigeons. Great numbers 

 of birds of prey hovered over the tall forest-trees to take 

 their toll of both young and old from the feathered 

 multitude with the most daring effrontery. From 

 twenty feet upwards to the tops of the trees the scene 

 in the woods presented a perpetual crowding and fluttering 

 amongst the pigeons. The noise of their pinions mingled 

 with the crash of falling timber, for men armed with 

 axes cut down such trees as seemed to be most crowded 

 with nests, and contrived to fell them in such a manner 



