32 
THE PIGEONS. 
as completely killed as if the woodman had 
been there with his axe. 
When the pigeons have made one tract of 
forest a scene of ruin, and eaten up all the 
beech-nuts, they go to another. They fly in 
a vast army, several pigeons deep, and high 
enough to be out of reach of a gun. 
A traveller was once going down the river 
Ohio, and went on shore for provisions. While 
he was bartering, there came on a sudden 
darkness, and a loud rushing sound was heard 
that he thought must be a tornado. He 
expected the houses, and everything in the 
neighbourhood, to be overwhelmed; when, to 
his great relief, the person he was talking to 
said quietly, " It is only the pj^eons 1" 
Another traveller sat and washed one of 
these mighty armies passing on its way. The 
air .was literally filled with pigeons. On they 
flew, in one continued colum^n, legion after 
legion ; and very beautiful they looked, as 
their plumage glistened in the sun. At one 
moment it was a sheet of azure, then it was a 
mass of rich purp]|p changing every instant 
with the light. Sometimes they swept round 
in circles, as if taking a survey of the country, 
