THE PASSENGER PIGEON. 
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in an encampment in a forest, upwards of nine miles in length, 
and four in breadth, in which there was scarcely a tree, large 
or small, which was not loaded with their nests. In those 
) parts of England frequented by our common Wood-Pigeons, 
the well-known rustling and rattling of a host of wings, as a 
cloud of them rise from some favourite haunt in the wood, 
will not easily he forgotten ; but this clattering of flapping 
pinions is nothing when compared to the uprising of these 
American flights, which is described as an absolute and con- 
: stant roaring, so loud and overpowering, that persons on 
i approaching the wood can with difficulty hear each other 
i speak. Amidst these scenes of apparent bustle and con- 
i fusion, there reigns, notwithstanding, the most perfect 
regularity and order. The old ones take their turns 
i regularly in feeding their young ; and when any of them 
are killed upon their nests, others immediately supply their 
[ places. 
The Passenger, or Migratory Pigeon. 
It has been said, that they only lay one egg at a time, but 
this is not strictly true, many of them laying two. But 
