Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1859-11-11
A Nightin a Pigeon Iloost.

Just now the wild Pigeons roost in innumeI-
able numbers in the Chenango Swamp, Craw>
ford county, Pa, about two miles east of the
Ohio line. The swamp is about ten miles long
by two or three wide, grown up with tamerack
or larch trees and alder bushes The editor of
the Ashtabula Sentinel has been among the
pigeons. He says:
When within two miles of the roosting plice
we began to hear the roar of the wings of the
millions of birds there congregated, which lite
rally equalled the roar OF Niagara But the
sights and sounds that greeted us as we neared
the swamp, beggar description. There were
probably a hundred hunters assembled and at
work. These were divided into parties of not
more than two or three-some in the Tame
racks, aud some in the Adels At a shot in
the bushes the birds rose in a mass and settled
on the trees and when fred upon there, they
flew to the bushes. This changing continued
all night. AT single shot, the flock always
rose and flew a shoIt distance to settle or be
fired upon again. This Ecene lasted all night.
The usual mode of hunting the pigeons, is for
two men to 90 together-one with gun, and
the other with bag and lanthom aud matches
As soon as the shot is fired the bag man strikes
light, and "bags' the birds and this must be
done speedily, or the wounded ones will hide
and be lost. Six dozen is quite heavy load
for any man. We "gin eOut' under five dozen,
very soon. We were told TO fIe with one bar.
rel at the bushes, and with the other at the
"bilo up" The term boil Hp, is a very natural
one; for at every shot, the flock will rise
straight upward, and after circng few mo-
ments, make a swooping course, and then alight
perhaps within a few yards Of where they rose.
The number killed seems almost incredible
One man killed four dozen at single shot,
and nine hundred in the night.
Pigeon buyers take the birds as fast as killed
at 20 cents dozen, and they are Immediately
shipped for New York They have station on
an island in the swamp and employ a man to
blow horn all night to direct the hunters to
their camp, The Sentinel says;
The habits of these birds are an interesting
study; and that alone would repay a visit to
their haunts. They appear to have no indi-
viduality; and all their actions are in hocks-
the tlocks seeming to be the individual. At
night they come in flocks. and in the morning
they make up in foeks to leave, uniting smaller
into larger ones, when the appearance is like
swarm of bees AT the sight of flash they
instantly change their course or scatter. We
noticed an immense flock like o cloud when a
largo meteor shot athwArt the sky, at the scin.
tilatiOn of which the feathered host scattered
in all directions In the morning little after
sunrise, they begin to leave, and in fifteen
minutes they are all gone, spreading in all d-
rections over the country to feed. From this
roOst they diverge daily in all directions over
district whose diameter is probably two hun
dred miles, to return again every night, and be
| hunted from bush to bush, aud kept in motion
| by the rapacty of man, instead of the rest that
Nature directed than to seek in this soques.
| tered resort