14 The Passenger Pigeon 



quarter, and were confirmed, in part, by what I myself 

 witnessed. I passed for several miles through this same 

 breeding place, where every tree was spotted with nests, 

 the remains of those above described. In many in- 

 stances I counted upwards of ninety nests on a single 

 tree, but the pigeons had abandoned this place for 

 another, sixty or eighty miles off towards Green River, 

 where they were said at that time to be equally 

 numerous. From the great numbers that were con- 

 stantly passing overhead to or from that quarter, I had 

 no doubt of the truth of this statement. The mast 

 had been chiefly consumed in Kentucky, and the pigeons, 

 every morning a little before sunrise, set out for the 

 Indiana territory, the nearest part of which was about 

 sixty miles distant. Many of these returned before ten 

 o'clock, and the great body generally appeared on their 

 return a little after noon. 



I had left the public road to visit the remains of the 

 breeding place near Shelbyville, and was traversing the 

 woods with my gun, on my way to Frankfort, when, 

 about one o'clock, the pigeons, which I had observed 

 flying the greater part of the morning northerly, began 

 to return in such immense numbers as I never before 

 had witnessed. Coming to an opening by the side of 

 a creek called the Benson, where I had a more uninter- 

 rupted view, I was astonished at their appearance. 

 They were flying with great steadiness and rapidity at 

 a height beyond gunshot in several strata deep, and so 



