72 Gbe Warbler 



the opposite side of this stream was a series of cultivated fields part of which 

 were, the first season, devoted to buckwheat. 



In August a flock of Wild Pigeons appeared and came daily to feed 

 upon the ripening grain. The flock probably contained several thousand in- 

 dividuals, and while the bird was not uncommon in this locality, or had not 

 been in years past, the appearance of so large a flock, coming regularly to 

 the same feeding grounds, was considered fortunate and all our neighbors 

 turned out with shot guns to enjoy the sport of pigeon shooting, which they 

 said was "getting scarce" It was rare sport for me. Though but eleven or 

 twelve years old I could handle a shot gun or rifle almost as well as I can 

 now, so day after day this flock of beautiful birds was pursued by myself and 

 others, and pigeon pot-pie was for some time a staple article of food at our 

 homes. The birds could often be approached while feeding upon the ground. 

 They would also settle upon the rail fence which enclosed the buckwheat 

 field, covering the rails so completely that they looked like a chain of living 

 birds, and by taking a position where one could fire at them "rakewise", as 

 the natives called it, 8 or 10 might be bagged at a single shot from any old 

 muzzle-loading gun. When fired at the flock would rise and after circulat- 

 ing about for awhile settle upon two or three immense elm trees which grew 

 near the river, covering every limb so densely that there did not appear to be 

 room for another bird. At times they would fly to the hill back of the 

 house and alight, sometimes upon the ground and sometimes upon the trees 

 of the wooded portion. 



When the flock was thus moving about the birds usually flew low enough 

 to be killed by shooting at them from the ground, and a discharge of many 

 firearms sometimes followed the flock wherever it went, as men and boys were 

 stationed at various points on the route over which the birds generally 

 moved. According to the best of my recollection the flock visited our buck- 

 wheat patch for a period of two or three weeks, not every day, but nearly so, 

 and before they left for good I believe that at least one-half of them had 

 been killed. 



The following year a much smaller flock visited the same haunts, but 

 the persistency with which they were hunted soon drove them away for 

 good. I remember taking my shot gun to the harvest field when we went 

 to work that I might be prepared for the flock or for any stray individuals 

 that might fly over, as was frequently the case. Taking firearms to the 

 work fields when Pigeons were about was a common practice among many 

 farmers at that time. 



The next year only a few Pigeons were seen and everybody lamented 

 the lack of sport. The only ones I killed that year was a pair I came upon 

 unexpectedly in September while in a piece of open beech woods grouse hunt- 

 ing. They were upon the ground feeding, and by a lucky shot I bagged 

 both as they took wing. 



