The Passenger Pigeon 



87 



must at least have extended eighty miles. ... It is not oftener than once 

 in seven or eight years, perhaps, that such large flocks of these birds are seen 

 in the country. The years in which they appear are denominated 'pigeon 

 years.'" 



In 1844, Featherstonhaugh, in an excursion through the slave states, 

 found that, "A new and very interesting spectacle presented itself, in the 

 incredible quantities 

 of wild pigeons that 

 were abroad; flocks of 

 them many miles long 

 came across the coun- 

 try, one flight suc- 

 ceeding to another, ob- 

 scuring the daylight, 

 and in their swift 

 motion creating a 

 wind, and producing a 

 rushing and startling 

 sound, that cataracts 

 of the first class might 

 be proud of. These 

 flights of wild pigeons 

 constitute one of the 

 most remarkable phe- 

 nomena of the west- 

 ern country. . . when 

 such myriads of timid 

 birds as the wild 

 pigeon are on the wing, 

 often wheeling and 

 performing evolutions 

 almost as complicated 

 as pyrotechnic move- 

 ments, and creating 

 whirlwinds as they 

 move, they present an image of the most fearful power. Our horse, Missouri, 

 at such times, has been so cowed by them that he would stand still and 

 tremble in his harness, whilst we ourselves were glad when their flight was 

 directed from us." 



Pigeon Roosts. — If the accounts of the migrant hosts seem incredible, 

 surely the most fervid imagination cannot conceive the numbers at the roosts. 

 ' 'Their roosting places are always in the woods, and sometimes occupy a large 

 extent of forest. When they have frequented one of these places for some 



PASSENGER PIGEON 

 The same bird shown in the preceding picture 



