GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. - 1 53 



measure subsided ; long before objects were disringuishable the Pigeons began to move off in a 

 direction quite different from that in which they had arrived the evening before, and, at sunrise, all 

 that were able to fly had disappeared. The howling of the wolves now reached our ears, and the 

 foxes, lynxes, cougars, bears, racoons, opossums, and polecats were seen sneaking off, while Eagles 

 and Hawks of different species, accompanied by a crowd of Vultures, came to supplant them, and 

 enjoy their share of the spoil. 



" It was then that the authors of this devastation began their entry among the dead, the dpng, 

 and the mangled. The Pigeons were picked up and piled in heaps, until each had as many as he 

 could possibly dispose of, when the hogs were let loose to feed on the remainder." 



Precisely the same slaughter takes place in the nesting-places of the Passenger Pigeon, and 

 Audubon goes on to describe these localities in the following manner : — 



" The breeding of the Wild Pigeons, and the places chosen for that purpose, are points of great 

 interest. The time is not much influenced by season, and the place selected is where food is 

 most plentiful and most attainable, and always at a convenient distance from water. Forest trees of 

 great height are those in which the Pigeons form their nests. Thither the countiess m}Tiads resort, 

 and prepare to fulfil one of the great laws of nature. At this period the note of the Pigeon is a soft 

 ' coo-coo-coo-coo,' much shorter than that of the domestic species. The common notes resemble the 

 monosyllables ' kee-kee-kee-kee,' the first being the loudest, the others gradually diminishing in power. 

 The male assumes a pompous demeanour, and follows the female, whether on the ground or on the 

 branches, with spread tail and drooping wings. The body is elevated, the throat swells, the eyes 

 sparkle. He continues his note, and now and then rises on the wing, and then flies a few yards to 

 approach the fugitive and timorous female. Like the Domestic Pigeon and other species, they caress 

 each other by billing, in which action the bill of one is introduced transversely into that of the other, 

 and both parties alternately disgorge the contents of their crops by repeated efforts. These pre- 

 liminary affairs are soon settled, and the Pigeons commence their nests in peace and harmony. They 

 are composed of a few dry twigs, crossing each other, and are supported by forks of the branches. 

 On the same tree from fifty to one hundred nests may frequently be seen ; I might say a greater 

 number, were I not anxious that, however wonderful my account of the Wild Pigeon is, you may not 

 feel disposed to refer it to the marvellous. The eggs are two in number, of a broadly elliptical form, 

 and pure white. During incubation the male supplies the female with food. Indeed, the tenderness 

 and affection displayed by these birds towards their mates, are in the highest degree striking. It is 

 a remarkable fact that each brood generally consists of a male and a female. The young are fed by 

 the parents in the manner described above ; in other words, the old bird introduces its bill into the 

 mouth of the young one in a transverse manner, or with the back of each mandible opposite the 

 separations of the mandibles of the young bird, and disgorges the contents of its crop. As soon as 

 the young birds are able to shift for themselves they leave their parents, and continue separate until 

 they attain maturity ; by the end of six months they are capable of reproducing their species. 



" Here, again, the tyrant of creation, man, interferes, disturbing the harmony of this peaceful 

 scene. As the young birds grow up, their enemies, armed with axes, reach the spot, to seize and 

 destroy all they can. The trees are felled and made to fall in such a way that the cutting of one 

 causes the overthrow of another, or shakes the neighbouring trees so much that the young Pigeons or 

 Squabs, as they are named, are violently hurled to the ground. In this manner also immense 

 quantities are destroyed." 



Wilson thus describes the breeding-places in detail : — " When the Passenger Pigeons have 

 frequented one of these places for some time, the appearance it exhibits is surprising. The ground is 

 covered to the depth of several inches with their dung; all the tender grass and underwood destroyed; 

 VOL. Ill, — 99 



