The Litchfield County post. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1826-1829, 1827-08-30


ing snow and the continued buzz Of Their
wings over me, had a tendency to incline
my senses to rep0Se. .....
Before sunset reached Louisville, distant
from Hardensburgh SIS miles, where the pi-
geons were still passing, and this continued for
S days in succession.
The people were all up in arms and shoot
ing ON all sides at the passing hOcks.--The
banks Ofthe river were crowded with men g.
children, for here the pigeons flew rather low
as they passed the Ohio. They gave a fair
opportunity to destroy them in great num-
bers. For week or more the population
spoke of nothing but pigeons, and fed on no
other flesh but that of pigeons. The whole
atmosphere during the time was strongly i'm
pregnated with the smell appertaining to their
species.
1t may not, perhaps, be out of place to at
tempt an estimate of the number of pigeons
contained in one of those mighty aoclls, and
the quantity of food daily consumed by its
members The inquiry will show the aston
lshlng bounty of the Creator in his works and
how universally this bounty has been granted
to every thing on the vast Continent of Amer
lea.
We shall take for example, a column of
one mile in breadth, which is far below the
average size, and supposed it passing over us
without interruption for 8 hours, at the rate
of mile per minute. This will give us a
parallelOgram of $50 miles by 2, covering so
square miles, and allowing 9 pigeons to the
square yard, one billion one hundred and fif-
teen millions, one hundred and thirty-six thou
sand pigeons in one flock; and as every pi-
geon consumes fully half a pint of food per
day, the quantity must be S,712, 900 bush
| els per day, which is required to feed such
| flock.
AS soon as these birds discover sufficien-
cy OF food to entice them to alight, they fly
round in circles, reviewing the country below,
and at this time exhibit their phaIanx in all the
beauties of their plumage; now displaying
large glistening sheet of bright azure, by ex-
posing their backs to view, and suddenly veer-
ing exhibit mass ofrich deep purple. They
then pass lower over the woods, and are lost
among the foliage for moment, but they re-
appear suddenly above after which they a.
light, and, as if afrighted, the whole again
take to wing with roar equal to loud thun-
der, and wander through the forest to see if
danger is near. Impelling hunger, however,
| soon brings them all to the ground, and then
they are seen industriously throwing up the
the fallen leaves to seek for the last beach nut
or acorn, the rear ranks continually rising,
passing over, and alighting in front in such
quick succession, that the whole still bears
the appearance of being on the wing. The
quantity of ground thus swept up, or, to use
French expression, n,oissottnce. is astonish-
neSea and so Gleapjs, the While ol4snoss
where pigeons have been. On such occa-
sions, when the woods are thus filled with
them, they are killed in immense nunlbers,yet
without any apparent diminution. During
the middle of the day, after the repast is fin
shed, the whole settle on the trees to enjoy
rest, and digest their food but as the sun
sinks in the horizon, they depart en- msasse for
their roosting place, not unfrequently hun
dreds of miles off, as has been satisfactorily
ascertained by persons keeping account of
their arrival, and of their departure from their
resting places, to which must now conduct
the reader.
TO one of those general nightly rendezvous,
not far from the banks of Green River IN
Kentucky, paid repeated visits. 1t was, as
is ALWAYS the case, pitched in portion OF the
forest where the trees We're of great magni-
tude of growth, but with little underwood ]
rode through it lengthwise upwards Of forty
miles, and crossed It in different parts, ascer-
| tanning It's width to be rather more than three
miles. My first view Of it was about fort
night subsequent to the period when they
had chosen this spot, and i arrived there near
two hours before the setting of the sun. Few
pigeons were then to be seen, but great
number of persons with horses and wagons,
guns and ammunition, had already established
different camps on the borders Two farmers
from the neighbourhood of Russelsvile, dis
tant more than 100 miles, had driven upward
of 500 hogs to be fattened on pigeon meat /;
and here and there the people, employed in
picking and sailing what had already been
procured, were seen sitting in the centre OF
large piles of those birds, all proving to me
that the number resorting there at night must
be immense, and probably consisting of all
those then feedingin Indiana, some distance
beyond Jacksonville, not less than $50 miles
off. The dung of the birdswas several inch
es deep, covering the whole extent of the
roosting place like a bed of sDOw.----Many
trees Q feet in diameter observed were bro
ken at no great distance from the ground, u
the branches of many Of the largest and tai
lest so much so, that the des0iation already
exhibited. equaIIed that performed by a fllrl-
Gus tornado. As the time elapsed, saw each
of the anxious persons about TO prepare for
faction; some with sulphur in iron pots, with
torches Of pine knots, many with poles, and
the rest with guns double and treble charged
The sun was lost to our view,yet not pigeon
had vet arrived.-but all Of sudden, heard
a cry of g Here they come r. The noise they
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