A PIGEON HUNT ON THE OHIO. 305 



in their calculations. Where do these immense flocks 

 come from ? They breed in all parts of America. Their 

 breeding-places are found as far north as the Hudson's 

 Bay, and they have been seen in the southern forests of 

 Louisiana and Texas. The nests are built upon high 

 trees, and resemble immense rookeries. In Kentucky, one 

 of 'their breeding-places was forty miles in length by 

 several in breadth ! One hundred nests will often be 

 found upon a single tree, and in each nest there is but 

 one "squab." Their eggs are pure white, like those of 

 the common kind, and like them they breed several times 

 during the year, but principally when food is plenty. 

 They establish themselves in great " roosts," sometimes 

 for years together, to which each night they return from 

 their distant excursions hundreds of miles, perhaps ; for 

 this is but a short fly for travellers who can pass over a 

 mile in a single minute, and some of whom have even 

 strayed across the Atlantic to England ! They, however, 

 as I myself have observed, remain in the same woods 

 where they have been feeding for several days together. 

 I have also noticed that they prefer roosting in the low 

 underwood, even when tall trees are close at hand. If 

 near water, or hanging over a stream, the place is still 

 more to their liking ; and in the morning they may be 

 Been alighting on the bank to drink, before taking to 

 their daily occupation. 



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