THE PIGEONS. 
to send his sonnets to his lady-love, suspended 
round the neck of the pigeon. 
In the east, (where things remain much 
more stationary than they do in England,) 
and indeed in many parts of the world, the 
pigeon still goes backwards and forwards on its 
errand ; and people look out for it with as 
much anxiety as they did centuries ago. 
But, perhaps, I can interest you the most, 
by telling you about the wild pigeon of 
America, that is called the passenger pigeon.* 
It is a handsome-looking bird, with a very long 
tail, and a dark red body; while the wings and 
back are green and purple, spotted with black. 
These pigeons live together in such incredible 
numbers that there is nothing like it in nature. 
More than forty miles of forest is entirely 
covered with them ; and if you were to go 
into one of these pigeon regions, you might 
think an army of soldiers had encamped ttiere. 
The grass and underwood are trampled down ; 
great boughs that have been broken from the 
trees, by the -weight of innumerable pigeons, 
lie strewed about, and the trees themselves are 
* C. Mimatoria. 
