A PIGEON HUNT ON THE OHIO. 311 



fairly within range, and raises his gun to take aim ; but 

 this is a signal for the shy game, and before he can draw 

 trigger they are off to another tree ! Some stragglers 

 still remain ; and at them he levels his piece and fires. 

 The shot is a random one; for our sportsman having 

 failed to " cover the flock," has become irritated and care- 

 less, and in all such cases the pigeons fly off with the loss 

 of a few feathers. The gun is reloaded, and our amateur 

 hunter, seeing the thick flock upon another tree, again 

 endeavors to approach them, but with like success. In 

 our party we had eight guns, exclusive of the small 

 fowling-pieces (two of these,) with which a brace of our 

 heroines were armed, and which truth compels me to con- 

 fess, were less dangerous to the pigeons than to ourselves. 

 Some of our guns were double-barrelled shot-guns, others 

 were rifles. You will wonder at rifles being used in such 

 a sport, and yet it is a fact that the gentlemen who car- 

 ried rifles managed to do more execution than those who 

 were armed with the other species. This arose from the 

 circumstance that they were contented to aim at single 

 birds, and, being good shots, they were almost sure to 

 bring these down. The woods were filled with straggling 

 pigeons. Odd birds were always within rifle range ; and 

 thus, instead of wasting their time in approaching the great 

 flocks, our riflemen did nothing but load and fire. In this 

 way they soon counted their game by the dozens. 



