154 CASSELL'S BOOK OF BIRDS. 



the surface strewed with large Hmbs of trees broken down by the weight of the birds clustering one 

 above another ; and the trees themselves, for thousands of acres, killed as completely as if girdled 

 with an axe. The marks of this desolation remain for years on the spot, and numerous places could 

 be pointed out where, for several years after, scarcely a single vegetable made its appearance. By 

 the Indians such a breeding-place is considered an important source of national profit and supply 

 during the season, and all their active ingenuity is exercised on the occasion. 



" Not far from Shelbyville, in the State of Kentucky, there was one of these breeding-places, 

 which stretching through the woods in nearly a north and south direction, was several miles in 

 breadth, and was said to be upwards of forty miles in e.\tent. In this tract almost every tree was 

 furnished with nests, wherever the branches could accommodate them. The Pigeons made their first 

 appearance there about the tenth of April, and left it altogether with their young before the twenty- 

 hfth of May. As soon as the }'oung were fully grown, and before they left the nests, numerous parties 

 of the inhabitants from all parts of the adjacent country came with wagons, axes, beds, and cooking 

 utensils, many of them accompanied by the greater part of their families, and encamped for several 

 days at this immense nursery. Several of them informed me that the noise in the woods was so 

 great as to terrify their horses, and that it was difficult for one person to make another hear without 

 bawling in his ear. The ground was strewed with broken limbs of trees, eggs, and young Squab 

 Pigeons, which had been precipitated from above, and on which herds of hogs were fattening. 

 Hawks, Buzzards, and Eagles were sailing about in great numbers, and seizing the Squabs from their 

 nests at pleasure; while, from twenty feet upwards to the tops of the trees, the view through the 

 woods presented a perpetual tumult of fluttering and crowding Pigeons, their wings roaring like 

 thunder, mingled with the frequent crash of falling timber, for now the axe-men were at work, cutting 

 down those trees that seemed to be most crowded with nests." 



Persons unacquainted with these birds might naturally conclude that such dreadful havoc might 

 soon put an end to the species, " but I have satisfied myself," remarks Audubon, " by long observation, 

 that nothing but the gradual diminution of our forests can accomplish their decrease." In 1805 there 

 came into New York schooners laden in bulk with Pigeons caught up the Hudson River, which were 

 sold for a cent apiece. A man in Pennsylvania caught in a clap-net in one day, upwards of five 

 hundred dozens, sweeping sometimes twenty dozen or more at a single haul ; and in the month of 

 March, 1830, they were so abundant in the markets of New York that piles of them met the eye in 

 every direction. 



The TURTLE DOVES {Turtures) constitute a very numerous section, whose members are all 

 recognisable by their slender body, small head, long wings and tail, and the comparative length of 

 their feet, which enables them to walk over the surface of the ground. The plumage is usually of a 

 reddish hue, and in most species adorned by a broad line around the throat. This band is either 

 black or spotted black and white. 



The various members of this group inhabit almost every portion of the globe, Asia and Africa 

 being particularly rich in species. In their habits they resemble other Pigeons, but are readily 

 distinguished from them by the peculiarities of their flight and cry. The Turtle Doves are of a 

 social disposition, and frequently assemble in large flocks, which fly over large tracts of the 

 surrounding country, after the manner of the Passenger Pigeons of North America, described above. 

 Brushwood or groves of low trees are the situations which they principally frequent, though many 

 species also occupy the moist depths of primeval forests, and evidently prefer such localities as are 

 in the immediate vicinity of water. The carelessly-constructed nest is usually placed in low brush- 

 wood, at but a little distance from the ground. 



