Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-04-07
WILD PIGEONS REDIscovEREp?
Railroad Men Say They Saw FIocks
In This State

WILD PIGEONS REDIscovERED?
Railroad Men Say They Saw FIocks
In This State.
Has the wild pigeon come back
Will the day ever return when this
splendid bird will be seen as of old, in
myriads that shut out the light of the
sun? These are questions that have
interested sportsmen and naturalists
for a decade or more, and today most
of them have pretty well made up
their minds that mo" is the only an
swer. AS year after year has passed
those who had believed that the great
iocks would one day be seen again
have given up hope.
1t will be, therefore, a matter of the
deepest interest to sportsmen and 9TH
er outdoor folk all over the United
States that a flock of wild pigeons has
been reported in South Carolina. The
birds were seen near the Black River
Swamp by Mr.. w. j. HOXie of Savan-
nah, and Mr.. Henry G. Jaeger, an en-
gineer of the Atlantic Coast Line, run
ming between Charleston and Florence
These two observers are very conf
dent that the birds, which they saw
from a Coast Line work train recently
were really wild pigeons, and they be-
lieve that the flock is likely to breed
III Black River Swamp.
Story of the Wild Pigeon.
The story of the wild pigeon is al
| interesting one. When America was
| hrst discovered the birds existed ir
almost incredible numbers. Peter
Kahn, the Swedish savant, who visited
America in the 18th century, gives
one of the earliest accounts of the pig
cons and tells of the immense multi
tudes in which they were then seen
In the spring of 1740," he says, g.
there came from the north an incredi-
BILE multitude of these pigeons tC
Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Theil
number, while in flight, extended three
or four English miles in length, and
more than one such mile in breadth
and they flew so closely together that
the sky and sun were obscured by
them, the daylight becoming sensibly
diminished by their shadow.
The big as we'll as the little trees In
the woods, sometimes covering a dis
tance of seven English miles, became
so filled with them that hardly a twie
or a branch could be seen which they
did not cover; on the thicker branch
es they had filed themselves upon one
another's backs, quite about a yarG
high"
Trees Broken Down by Birds.
Kahn goes on to tell of the myriads
of pigeons that he saw during his
journey through the wilderness to Can
ada. In places, he says, the trees
were full of their nests, and they kept
up a noisy murmuring and cooling
sound all night, during which time
the trees were full Of them, and 1t was
difficult to obtain peaceful sleep on
account of their continuous noise. In
this wilderness we could hear in the
nighttime, during the calmest wealth
er, big trees collapsing in the forests,
which during the silence Of the night
caused tremendous reports; this might
in all probability be ascribed to the
pigeons, which, according to their Gus
tom had loaded a tree down with their
numbers to such an extent that II
broke down."
Kahn in the following paragraph
furnishes an interesting side-light up
on the wisdom of savages and the un-
wisdom of the civilized:
while these birds are Matching
their young, or while the latter are not
yet able to fly, the savages or In
dians in North America are in a habit
of never shooting or killing them, nor
of allowing others to do so. Some of
the Frenchmen told me that they had
set out with the intention of shooting
some OF them at that season of the
year, but that the savages had at first
with kindness endeavored to dissuade
them from such a purpose, and later
added threats to their entreaties when
the latter were of no avail"
Living Torrent of Pigeons.
Even more amazing and showing
even more impressively the extraordi-
nary abundance of the wild pigeon in
former days, was the experience of
Alexander Wilson, in Kentucky, about
1908. Il had left the public road" he
says, ito visit the remains of the
breeding place near Shelbyville
When about o'clock the pigeons
began to return in such immense num-
bers as / had never before witnessed
They were flying with great
stcadiness and rapdity, at a height
beyond gunshot, I'm several strata
deep .
From right to left, as far as the
eye could reach, the breadth of this
vast procession extended. Curious to
determine how long this appearance
would continue, l took out my watch
to note the time, and sat down to OBJ
serve them. 1t was then half-past /.
l sat for more than an hour, but in
stead of diminution of this prodi-
gious procession, it seemed rather to
increase, both in numbers and rap
idity. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon
l crossed the Kentucky river at
which time the living torrent above
my head seemed as numerous, extern
sive as ever
Flock 240 Miles Long.
IF you suppose this column to have
been one mile in breadth, (and l believe