The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1880-06-04

o'4.'f To 80 NUMBER So
Wild rlHEONs IN MICHIGAN.
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| A correspondent of the Detroit Post,
lwIstihg' fsoaA' uxAvetse, Mlch!, April "a,
says that the biennial flight OF pigeons
to the woods of Northern Michigan be.
gan the latter part OF March. These
birds on theiri jcnrneyiDks from the
South to tho Gar North stop every two
years for two or three crossings in Mich
! lgan, usually coming In immes,se num-
bers. On the Alternate yeass, when
beech nuts are not abundant in this
State, they take a0n,e other course In
their nortt,ward flight. Formerly their
first nesting was In Allegan or Ottawa
county. Of late they have generally
settled first In Shelby, Oceans county,
and later in the season in Henxie asnd
Emmct counties. Two years ego they
skipped both Oceana aud Benzie coun-
ties and nesteti first In Emn,et, near
Ret0akeN This year their first night
was to the s,aane section, but they soon
discovered that they had been, fooled
by the warm weather further South.
Tho weather about Petoskey was stiM
cold, the bay was frozen over, the snow
was deep In this WOODS, The prospect for
~ two oA Hppayent irresolution and
many erratlc flights the birds, As II by
common consent, took their coarse to
tts ineighborhood OF Platte River In
6enxie cOunty. A. a local publication
stated at. THO time, ssthey, oa,ne In
clouds, millions upon millions. It
seemed as II the entire world Of pig
cons W'Ns concentrating at this point.
The air was flsll Of them and the sun
shut out of sight, aud still they came,
millions upon millions more" They
spread over, an area of moro than tif-
teen miles In length and six to eight
fnfles wide, and tho prospect for a time
was that the nesting would be tho raost
extensive ever known in the State.
The news speedily reached all parts of
the State, and It Is said that In q fort
nights tlnle three thousand hunt ers-
professionally, amateurs, 'GreenhorAs
had indvad1esa the country from all Idi-
rcctions, surrounding Rnd penetrating
the nesting grounds. az, ~ TIN
1t was noticed, however, by old
hunters that tho birds did not settle
down to domestic life ns quickly as
usual. The iroosting birtls--tl,at Is,
those who had not yet mated-out-
numbered tho nesting birds u hundred
to one. Somn6 of tho moro Jealous and
inconsiderate' spOfismei entered the
nesting woods and acolnmenccd pop.
ping away at tho nests themselves, a
SNOW storm followed, high winds pre-
vailed, and many of the roostinK birds,
lisgustcd, postpoiied tKefr anticipated
housekeeping, and scattered. The nest
ing consequently falls far short In mag
nitudo Of what was mt first OK pected.
though still large In aren aud contain
ing millions or birds. 1t scattered
along tho banks or the Platte River,
the townships OF Almira, ICELAND, and
Homestead. The distance from ono
end TO tho other Is over ten miles, and
the width varies from few rods to
three or four miles. There are, how
ever, numerous long dlstnnces between
the two ex trenes where no nests arc to
be, found, and the birds have OCCASION
ally changed their ground, so that
many OF the hunters THEMSELVES are
very uncertain as to the exact where
abouts of the birds At the present time.
In the nests frat made the young are
about ready to fly, aud have been aban-
dOned by the old birds, and In some
places, owing to the winds and the
constant shooting, the nests have been
deserted before any birds were hatched.
One nesting Is about the same as an
other, and the first nest you come to Is
like the million others In tue county.
When these migratory. birds, have
mated, decided where 70 settle, and
have staketi Off their claim, they pro
cet.d at once to construct about the
slightest nest that will hold an egg and
IL bird. "Threc sticks and feather''
constitute about ths material, accord
ing to . recent, visitor here. The
feather Is Often wanting, hut a few
more sticks are generally added. The
nest is placed In the crotch of a tree, on
two forked branches, or anyw here else
In the tree where suitable support can
be found. Cedar trees along the river
bottoms seem to be preferred, but
when the nestfngs are large, beech and
other trees are occupied. a From half a
dozen TO fifty or sixty nests are built In
q tree, and only one egg Is laid Ia each
nest.
The extent Of rich uncniti vatel land
In the Delta of the. mississippi River
is not generally known. On this point
Gen. Abbott, Of the United States En-
glncers, says Tho total area OF bottom
tu uv,<tu 10 sHtvn II L. -f,vn