
Pie 
24 PILE. “NATURAL HISTORY 
itis the want of food that compels them to fly 4 
from one province to another. If the winter be | 
mild, few are feen in the fouthern parts of that — 
‘continent. ‘They feed on acorns, the berries of 
various trees, and feveral kinds of maft, Where- 
~~ ever they ftop they devour every thing of that 
_ kind, for they flyin myriads. : 
| When they have eaten all the matts, or berries, 
that are fallen upon the ground, they Ay ftrait 
upwards amongft the branches of the trees, in 
columns, by turns, and they beat down the acorns 
and maft with their wings. In Canada they fre- 
~ quently do great mifchief in devouring the corn, 
before they begin their flight into more fouthern — 
countries. They abound in the country near — 
Hudfon’s Bay, where they breed in the woods; — 
in fome parts, it 1s faid, they are in fuch num- 
bers, that they join neft to neft, and that thefe q 
nefts reach from tree to tree for feveral miles in| 
leneth. When their food is exhaufted in thofe a 
cold climates, they colle in immenfe numbers, — 
and it is afferted that they fly by millions ina — 
flock, intercepting the light of the fun, fo as to 4 





eccafion a degree of darknefs in thofe places over 
which they pafs. Thefe flocks are faid to be two 
miles long, and a quarter of a mile in breadth. 
According to fome writers, they a are four or five 
miles | 
