The Wilmingtonian., 1824-04-08
Tepay (zndiana,) February.
pTGFNNS.

PlGEONS.
The immense numbers Of pigeons, that
inhabt the western regions of the United
States have excited the admiration aud
of travellers aud occasioned
from some of them, very wonderful ac-
counts, which many, who have net been
eye witnesses. have considered as fabu-I
lous. Although the pigeon is decidedly
a bird Of the wilderness, yet it does not
hesitate to encroach on the settlements of
man, and often proves destructive to his
wheat and cornfield.
There is, probably, no other species OF
the feathered tribe, that make such wide
excursions in quest cf their daily food, and
return every night to their roosting places,
or properly speaking, to their young; for
the pigeon-roosts. SO much spoken of, are
places selected for the season Of laying
their eggs and rearing their young, and
these places are often chosen in the neigh
bourhood of considerable settlements OF
men, who seldom fail to embrace such op-
Iportunifies to supply their tables with
squads, and to amuse themselves in har-
sssing their winged visiters. by every
means in their power, shooting them
raising large fires under them--crushing
them to death, in thousands, by Telling
trees, &c. but all these annoyances and
Interpretations, have no effect in routing
them.
The destruction. produced by human
crueltes, is like taking drop from full
bucket, or the fall Of few soldiers in a
grand army. There are at this time. sete-
E raj of these roosts, scattered over the CEN
tral and northern frontier counties oi
Kentucky, throughout which section of The
}, state, the production of mast was very
great last season: and the writer OF this
who lives about q miles from the nearest
of these roosts, witnesses almost daily, the
: havoc made upon this mast by these vast
= hordes of fpigeons.-They sweep the forests
e in such immense focks that they keep uE
y a noise, through the day, somewhat re-
g gIsembing continual thunder: and not un
frequently, in such sudden peals, as tt
v very much impede the equestrian ira
e weller if he has not very gentle horse.
From computation, it appears, there
S are upon a square mile every day. 5000
!. that they embrace tract of country
d seventy miles square, so that allowing ono
l. half of this area to be filled at the rate a
" above mentioned, there would be above
It twelve millions. Pigeons are great gor
h |mandizers, and tappears. from calculation
/, that allowing their food only equal to one
! gill of wheat per day. which is supposed
dto be short of the quantity OF nutrimen
l. they would require, in one day; they
'-Iwould consume about 1l5,327 bushel'
e|per day-ths, at fifty cents per bush
eIel, would amount to 1868 dollars. Pro
= violence has given them peculiar power
/ of seeking far and wide, through the fertile
n forests OF the west, to crafty that appetite
e and gather up the surplus fruits of the
= earth, which would otherwise waste. like
the leaves, to enrich the soil that produces
slthem.
d .MOnochromatic Lamp.-The ingenious
:, d. Brewster has invented lamp, which il
t likely to prove very valuable in Practica
t. science, as we'll as in several of ths
e arts. After stating lin his Philosophical
o. |Journal) the result of his experiments or
s. the passage Of light through the various
ylportions Of the prismatic spectrum, and thu
n extreme difficulty of obtaining distinc
e vision. owing to the different colours. even
! when regulated in their intensity, by the
h hinterposition of different media, the doctor
e observes, that a homogenour yelloc ligh
l. may be obtained by the combustion o.
La. II. IL rntt