A PIGEON HUNT ON THE OHIO. 301 



time issues from its apertures convince you that it is a 

 kennel. If you peep into it, you will see a dozen of as 

 fine stag-hounds as ever lifted a trail. The colonel is 

 somewhat partial to these pets, for he is a "mighty 

 hunter." You may see a number of young colts in an 

 adjoining lot ; a pet deer, a buffalo-calf, that has been 

 brought from the far prairies, pea-fowl, guinea-hens, 

 turkeys, geese, ducks, and the usual proportion of com- 

 mon fowls. Rail fences zigzag off in all directions to- 

 wards the edge of the woods. Huge trees, dead and 

 divested of their leaves, stand up in the cleared fields. 

 Turkey buzzards and carrion crows (cathartes aura and 

 atratus) are perched upon their grey naked limbs ; upon 

 their summit sits the great rough-legged falcon (falco 

 lagopus ;) and above all, cutting sharply against the blue 

 sky, sails the fork-tailed kite of the south (falco Missis- 

 sippiensis.) 



Just such a picture opened before my eyes as I rode 



into the clearing of Colonel P , in the fall of 1849. 



I had travelled several hundred miles a mere bagatelle 

 in America to be present at a great "pigeon-hunt," 

 arranged by the colonel for the gratification of his 

 friends. 



On my arrival I found the party assembled. It con- 

 sisted of a score and a half of ladies and gentlemen, 

 nearly all young people. The pigeons had not yet made 



26 I 



