The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1873-12-20
THE WILD PIGEON.
BY $. II. rEABODY, VI. \.

q and autumn, and vet their coming and going
does not always depend upon the weather.
, The long lines. or Vsbnped trains of wild
:, geese, which fly with such great regularity
in spring and fall, are real harbingers of the
: changing seasons. When their harsh "krok'
=, IS heard in the sky in early spring, we know
that winter is over, and at the same warning
note in autumn we know that the king OF
storms and snow is close behind, driving the
ilocks out of his dominion. These birds do
not stop in their journeys, except for food or
} rest,
But lhc pigeons come and 20 differently.
lhey seem 10 be at home wherever food is
| plenty, Latc IN December they have been seen
ABOUT HUDSON 5 Bay feeding on juniper buds,
while the ground was covered with snow.
lhey are found IN the Rocky Mountains, in
ieAaS, ABOUT Inc Gun OF Mexico, along the
huantIc slopes ana throughout the intcrven
ing country, anu III al lheSc places they make
their nests and rear their young. Often they
remain IN the same vicinity for some years,
then vanish, ana do not return for long
time. As general thing, however they 90
north IN the spring and south in the fall.
The chlei reason for their Journeys is search
OF food. they are particularly fond of beech
NUS anu acoInS, but they devour also buck
Wheat, hcmp,Seed, Indian corn and most
kinds OF small grains and of berries In the
Southern States they feed on the acorns of
the llve-oak and on rice, both wild and cul.
tlyated,
Every western boy knows in what wonder
lui sWarms they fly High in the air long
columns go sweeping by, stretching far away
10 the horizon on either hand SO that the Wis.
! iblc flock is often miles in length: so high
they look like bees, and so swift that the eve
can hardly follow their notions while look
ing at one end Of the flock the other has
swept out OF view Sometimes the birds fol-
low in broad line like an army marching
along the road; Ottcncr the band moves for
ward like an army moving into battle, charg
ing an enemy's intrenChmcnts The long
line curves and wavcIs as if one part had
greater courage or met fewer foes. Great
gaps appear as if vollcys of muSkctry or in.
visible charges of grape-shot were scattering
their ranks; but the gaps close again as the
victorious lcgions sweep everything before
them.
Behind the first line another follows speed.
ily; Il faint cloud in the far distance EXPANDS
into another. and so they follow the live
long day Now the birds hy lower. Their
glancing pumage giStens among the trees
rs they sweep in and out, now showing n
flash OF vivid blue, then, as they shift their
course in the sunshine, mass Of rich, deep
purple.
Their speed is very rapid. Pigeons killed
in New York have had their crops filled with
rice which must have been gathered in Caro-.
lima or Georgia; the grain was so little chang. |
ed that the distance must have been passed !
in not more than six hours or at an AVERAGE !
rate or about mile minute. At this rate |
flock of pigeons would cross the Atlantic in |
less than three DAYS.
Even the vast number of pigeons which we
see, seem small beside the immensely large |
flocks described bv the naturalists Audubon |
and Wilson. In 1913 in Kentucky. Audu |
bon saw these birds tlying in unusual mum. |
bers, and sat down to mark the tlocks as they |
passed making one dot on "a piece of paper
for each flock. He soon found that he could |
not keep the reckoning, and at the end off
twentv.one minutes, that he had noted 1853
tocks The air was full of pigeons, and the |
light OF day was darkened as in an eclipse.
All DAY long, as ne Journeycd, the BIRDS con
unued TO pass, ana ior TWO days after, when
pursued hy haWA' ike torrent ana win
NOTES OF tlunuer' tney fushtu inlo compact
sweeping close to the carth, then rose high IN
the air like vast column, ana whirltng and
twisting IN space, resem0led the Writhings OF
a glgan'lc serpent. Each mock, as 1t came
up, lolio"ed through the same changes Ms
mat when hau gone before, aithOugh me
danger which mad caused the commoton
was ended
wilson sa" Il mock Tying between Frank
tort, kentucky, ana Indiana, winch was, so to
speak, several layers utep, ana when extend
Ell on either side as TAR as the eye could sec
lie watched TINS nock pass continuously Tor
mole than four hours, and after that large DO.
dies followed at intervals OF six or eight min
utes. lie estimated this flock at mile wide,
a
240 miles long; each square yard contained,
ut least, three birds. 24O square miles OF
birds, column Which would reach from Chi
cago 100 miles into Iowa, or eastward, 80
miles beyond the boundary OF Ohio, | will
leave my young arithmeticianS to say how
many birds there were, and, ii each ate half a
pint q! food a day, how many bushels Of pro
Yendc were needed Cor days support.
Nov we see the reason of their LONG Jour.
news. and their swift flight, Were they Slow
IN the wing, so that they could not easily