6ATHEErN& OP A " KGEON-CEOP. 



BO great aa to terrify their horses, and that it was difficult for 

 any. person to hear another speak withont bawling in his ear. 

 The ground was strewed with broken hmbs of trees, eggs, and 

 young sqnab pigeons, which had been precipitated from above, 

 and on which herds of hogs were fattening. Hawks, baz^ards, 

 and eagles were sailing about and seizing the squabs tram the 

 nests at pleasiire ; while from twenty feet upward to the top 

 of the trees Hhe view through the woods presented a perpetual 

 tumult of crowding and fluttering multitudes of .pigeons, their 

 wings roaring like thunder, mingled with the frequent crash of 

 falling timber ; for now the axemen were at work cutting down 

 those trees that seemed to be most crowded with nests, and 

 contrivii^ to fell them in such a manner tliat in their descent 

 they might bring down several others ; by which means the 

 faUmg of one large tree sometimes ptoduced two hundred 

 squabs little inferior in size to the old ones, and almost one 

 heap of fat. On some single trees upwards of one hundred 

 nests were found, each containing one squab only. It was 

 dangerous to walk under these flying and fluttering millions, 

 from the frequent fall of large branches, broken down by the 

 weight of the multitudes above, and which in their descent often 

 destroyed numbers of the birds themselves ; whilst the clothes 

 of those engaged in traversing the woods were completely 

 covered with the exCremeats of the pigeons." 



Audubon gives the following animated description of one of 

 these nocturnal heMues ; — " The suli," he says, " was lost to 

 our view, yet not a pigeoXL had airrived ; but,, suddenly, there 

 burst forth a general cry ®f, ' Here 'diiey come ! ' The noise 

 which they made, though yet distant, reminded me of a hard 

 gale at sea passing through the rigging of a close-reefed vessel. 

 As the birds arrived and passed over me, I felt a current of 

 air that surprised me. Thousands were soon knocked down 

 by the men provided with poles. The current of birds, how- 

 ever, kept BtiE increasing. The fires were l^hted, and a most 

 Hiagnificent, as well as a wonderfol and terrifying sight, pre- 

 sented itself. The pigeons, coming in by thousands, alighted 

 everywhere, one above another, until solid masses of them, 

 resembling hanging swarms of bees, as large as hogsheads, 

 were formed on every tree, in all directions. Here and there 

 the perches gave way under the weight with a crash, and, fall- 

 ing to the groimd,. destroyed hundreds of birds beneath, forcing 

 down the dense groups with which every stick was loaded. It 

 was a scene of uproar and confusion. I found it quite useless 



