"When a Pigeon
is seen gliding through the woods and close to the observer,
it passes like a thought, and on trying to see it again, the
eye searches in vain; the bird is gone."
"I positively
brought myself so much among the pigeons and in the woods of
America that my ears were as if really filled with the noise
of their wings..."
John J. Audubon
"On The Passenger Pigeon"
Birds of America
By
John James Audubon
Click
here to see authenic newspaper article of Audubons account of
the Wild Pigeon!
 "I dismounted, seated myself
on an eminence, and began to mark with my pencil, making a dot
for every flock that passed. In a short time finding the task
which I had, undertaken impracticable, as the birds poured in
in countless multitudes, I rose, and counting the
dots then put down, found that 163 had been made in twenty-one
minutes. I traveled on, and still met more the farther I proceeded.
The air was literally filled with Pigeons; the light of noon-day
was obscured as by an eclipse, the dung fell in spots, not unlike
melting flakes of snow; and the continued buzz of wings had a
tendency to lull my senses to repose."...Before sunset I
reached Louisville, distance from Hardensburgh fifty-five miles.
The Pigeons were still passing in undiminished numbers, and continued
to do so for three days in succession.
THE PASSENGER PIGEON
click to see his painting
PLATE 62.--MALE AND FEMALE.
ECTOPISTES MIGRATORIA, Linn.
[Ectopistes migratorius.]
Introduction
The Wild Pigeon of North America
The Passenger Pigeon, or, as it is usually named in
America, the Wild Pigeon, moves with
extreme rapidity, propelling itself by quickly repeated flaps
of the wings, which it brings more or
less near to the body, according to the degree of velocity which
is required. Like the Domestic
Pigeon, it often flies, during the love season, in a circling
manner, supporting itself with both
wings angularly elevated, in which position it keeps them until
it is about to alight. Now and
then, during these circular flights, the tips of the primary
quills of each wing are made to strike
against each other, producing a smart rap, which may be heard
at a distance of thirty or forty
yards. Before alighting, the Wild Pigeon, like the Carolina Parrot
and a few other species of
birds, breaks the force of its flight by repeated flapping, as
if apprehensive of receiving injury
from coming too suddenly into contact with the branch or the
spot of ground on which it intends
to settle.
I have commenced my description of this species with
the above account of its flight, because the
most important facts connected with its habits relate to its
migrations. These are entirely owing to
the necessity of procuring food, and are not performed with the
view of escaping the severity of
a northern latitude, or of seeking a southern one for the purpose
of breeding. They consequently
do not take place at any fixed period or season of the year.
Indeed, it sometimes happens that a
continuance of a sufficient supply of food in one district will
keep these birds absent from
another for years. I know, at least, to a certainty, that in
Kentucky they remained for several
years constantly, and were nowhere else to be found. They all
suddenly disappeared one season
when the mast was exhausted, and did not return for a long period.
Similar facts have been
observed in other States.
Their great power of flight enables them to survey
and pass over an astonishing extent of country
in a very short time. This is proved by facts well known. Thus,
Pigeons have been killed in the
neighborhood of New York, with their crops full of rice, which
they must have collected in the
fields of Georgia and Carolina, these districts being the nearest
in which they could possibly
have procured a supply of that kind of food. As their power of
digestion is so great that they will
decompose food entirely in twelve hours, they must in this case
have traveled between three and
four hundred miles in six hours, which shows their speed to be
at an average of about one mile in
a minute. A velocity such as this would enable one of these birds,
were it so inclined, to visit the
European continent in less than three days.
This great power of flight is seconded by as great
a power of vision, which discover their food
with facility, and thus attain the object for which their journey
has been undertaken. This I have
also proved to be the case, by having observed them, when passing
over a sterile part of the
country, or one scantily furnished with food suited to them,
keep high in the air, flying with an
extended front, so as to enable them to survey hundreds of acres
at once. On the contrary, when
the land is richly covered with food, or the trees abundantly
hung with mast, they fly low, in
order to discover the part most plentifully supplied.
Their body is of an elongated oval form, steered by
a long well-plumed tail, and propelled by
well-set wings, the muscles of which are very large and powerful
for the size of the bird. When
an individual is seen gliding through the woods and close to
the observer, it passes like a
thought, and on trying to see it again, the eye searches in vain;
the bird is gone.
The multitudes of Wild Pigeons in our woods are astonishing.
Indeed, after having viewed them
so often, and under so many circumstances, I even now feel inclined
to pause, and assure myself
that what I am going to relate is fact. Yet I have seen it all,
and that too in the company of
persons who, like myself, were struck with amazement.
On the Migration of the Passenger Pigeon
In the autumn of 1813, I left my house at Henderson,
on the banks of the Ohio, on my way to
Louisville. In passing over the Barrens a few miles beyond Hardensburgh,
I observed the
Pigeons flying from north-east to south-west, in greater numbers
than I thought I had ever seen
them before, and feeling an inclination to count the flocks that
might pass within the reach of my
eye in one hour, "I dismounted, seated myself on an eminence,
and began to mark with my pencil, making a dot for every flock
that passed. In a short time finding the task which I had, undertaken
impracticable, as the birds poured in in countless multitudes,I
rose, and counting the
dots then put down, found that 163 had been made in twenty-one
minutes. I traveled on, and still met more the farther I proceeded.
The air was literally filled with Pigeons; the light of noon-day
was obscured as by an eclipse, the dung fell in spots, not unlike
melting flakes of snow; and the continued buzz of wings had a
tendency to lull my senses to repose.
Whilst waiting for dinner at YOUNG'S inn at the confluence
of Salt river with the Ohio, I saw,
at my leisure, immense legions still going by, with a front reaching
far beyond the Ohio on the
west, and the beech-wood forests directly on the east of me.
Not a single bird alighted; for not a
nut or acorn was that year to be seen in the neighborhood. They
consequently flew so high, that
different trials to reach them with a capital rifle proved ineffectual;
nor did the reports disturb
them in the least. I cannot describe to you the extreme beauty
of their aerial evolutions, when a
Hawk chanced to press upon the rear of a flock. At once, like
a torrent, and with a noise like
thunder, they rushed into a compact mass, pressing upon each
other towards the center. In these
almost solid masses, they darted forward in undulating and angular
lines, descended and swept
close over the earth with inconceivable velocity, mounted perpendicularly
so as to resemble a
vast column, and, when high, were seen wheeling and twisting
within their continued lines,
which then resembled the coils of a gigantic serpent.
Before sunset I reached Louisville, distant from Hardensburgh
fifty-five miles. The Pigeons were still passing in undiminished
numbers, and continued to do so for three days in succession.
The people were all in arms. The banks of the Ohio were crowded
with men and boys,
incessantly shooting at the pilgrims, which there flew lower
as they passed the river. Multitudes
were thus destroyed. For a week or more, the population fed on
no other flesh than that of
Pigeons, and talked of nothing but Pigeons.
On The Behaviour of the Passenger Pigeon
It is extremely interesting to see flock after flock
performing exactly the same evolutions which
had been traced as it were in the air by a preceding flock. Thus,
should a Hawk have charged on
a group at a certain spot, the angles, curves, and undulations
that have been described by the
birds, in their efforts to escape from the dreaded talons of
the plunderer, are undeviatingly
followed by the next group that comes up. Should the bystander
happen to witness one of these
affrays, and, struck with the rapidity and elegance of the motions
exhibited, feel desirous of
seeing them repeated, his wishes will be gratified if he only
remain in the place until the next
group comes up.
As soon as the Pigeons discover a sufficiency of food
to entice them to alight, they fly around in
circles, reviewing the country below. During their evolutions,
on such occasions, the dense mass
which they form exhibits a beautiful appearance, as it changes
its direction, now displaying a
glistening sheet of azure, when the backs of the birds come simultaneously
into view, and anon,
suddenly presenting a mass of rich deep purple. They then pass
lower, over the woods, and for a
moment are lost among the foliage, but again emerge, and are
seen gliding aloft. They now
alight, but the next moment, as if suddenly alarmed, they take
to wing, producing by the
flapping of their wing a noise like the roar of distant thunder,
and sweep through the forests to
see if danger is near. Hunger, however, soon brings them to the
ground. When alighted, they are
seen industriously throwing up the withered leaves in quest of
the fallen mast. The rear ranks are
continually rising, passing over the main-body, and alighting
in front, in such rapid succession,
that the whole flock seems still on wing. The quantity of ground
thus swept is astonishing, and
so completely has it been cleared, that the gleaner who might
follow in their rear would find his
labor completely lost. Whilst feeding, their avidity is at times
so great that in attempting to
swallow a large acorn or nut, they are seen gasping for a long
while, as if in the agonies of
suffocation.
On the Hunting of Passenger Pigeons
On such occasions, when the woods are filled with
these Pigeons, they are killed in immense
numbers, although no apparent diminution ensues. About the middle
of the day, after their repast
is finished, they settle on the trees, to enjoy rest, and digest
their food. On the ground they walk
with ease, as well as on the branches, frequently jerking their
beautiful tail, and moving the neck
backwards and forwards in the most graceful manner. As the sun
begins to sink beneath the
horizon, they depart en masse for the roosting-place, which not
infrequently is hundreds of
miles distant, as has been ascertained by persons who have kept
an account of their arrivals and
departures.
Let us now, kind reader, inspect their place of nightly
rendezvous. One of these curious
roosting-places, on the banks of the Green river in Kentucky,
I repeatedly visited. It was, as is
always the case, in a portion of the forest where the trees were
of great magnitude, and where
there was little under-wood. I rode through it upwards of forty
miles, and, crossing it in different
parts, found its average breadth to be rather more than three
miles. My first view of it was about
a fortnight subsequent to the period when they had made choice
of it, and I arrived there nearly
two hours before sunset. Few Pigeons were then to be seen, but
a great number of persons, with
horses and wagons, guns and ammunition, had already established
encampments on the borders.
Two farmers from the vicinity of Russelsville, distant more than
a hundred miles, had driven
upwards of three hundred hogs to be fattened on the pigeons which
were to be slaughtered. Here
and there, the people employed in plucking and salting what had
already been procured, were
seen sitting in the midst of large piles of these birds. The
dung lay several inches deep, covering
the whole extent of the roosting-place. Many trees two feet in
diameter, I observed, were broken
off at no great distance from the ground; and the branches of
many of the largest and tallest had
given way, as if the forest had been swept by a tornado. Every
thing proved to me that the
number of birds resorting to this part of the forest must be
immense beyond conception. As the
period of their arrival approached, their foes anxiously prepared
to receive them. Some were
furnished with iron-pots containing sulfur, others with torches
of pine-knots, many with poles,
and the rest with guns. The sun was lost to our view, yet not
a Pigeon had arrived. Every thing
was ready, and all eyes were gazing on the clear sky, which appeared
in glimpses amidst the tall
trees. Suddenly there burst forth a general cry of "Here
they come!" The noise which they made,
though yet distant, reminded me of a hard gale at sea, passing
through the rigging of a
close-reefed vessel. As the birds arrived and passed over me,
I felt a current of air that surprised
me. Thousands were soon knocked down by the pole-men. The birds
continued to pour in. The
fires were lighted, and a magnificent, as well as wonderful and
almost terrifying, sight presented
itself. The Pigeons, arriving by thousands, alighted everywhere,
one above another, until solid
masses were formed on the branches all round. Here and there
the perches gave way under the
weight with a crash, and, falling to the ground, destroyed hundreds
of the birds beneath, forcing
down the dense groups with which every stick was loaded. It was
a scene of uproar and
confusion. I found it quite useless to speak, or even to shout
to those persons who were nearest
to me. Even the reports of the guns were seldom heard, and I
was made aware of the firing only
by seeing the shooters reloading.
No one dared venture within the line of devastation.
The hogs had been penned up in due time,
the picking up of the dead and wounded being left for the next
morning's employment. The
Pigeons were constantly coming, and it was past midnight before
I perceived a decrease in the
number of those that arrived. The uproar continued the whole
night; and as I was anxious to
know to what distance the sound reached, I sent off a man, accustomed
to perambulate the
forest, who, returning two hours afterwards, informed me he had
heard it distinctly when three
miles distant from the spot. Towards the approach of day, the
noise in some measure subsided:
long before objects were distinguishable, the Pigeons began to
move off in a direction quite
different from that in which they had arrived the evening before,
and at sunrise all that were able
to fly had disappeared. The howling of the wolves now reached
our ears, and the foxes, lynxes,
cougars, bears, raccoons, opossums and pole-cats were seen sneaking
off, whilst eagles and
hawks of different species, accompanied by a crowd of vultures,
came to supplant them, and
enjoy their share of the spoil.
It was then that the authors of all this devastation
began their entry amongst the dead, the dying,
and the mangled. The Pigeons were picked up and piled in heaps,
until each had as many as he
could possibly dispose of, when the hogs were let loose to feed
on the remainder.
Persons unacquainted with these birds might naturally
conclude that such dreadful havoc would
soon put an end to the species. But I have satisfied myself,
by long observation, that nothing but
the gradual diminution of our forests can accomplish their decrease,
as they not infrequently
quadruple their numbers yearly, and always at least double it.
In 1805 I saw schooners loaded in
bulk with Pigeons caught up the Hudson river, coming in to the
wharf at New York, when the
birds sold for a cent a piece. I knew a man in Pennsylvania,
who caught and killed upwards of
500 dozens in a clap-net in one day, sweeping sometimes twenty
dozens or more at a single haul.
In the month of March 1830, they were so abundant in the markets
of New York, that piles of
them met the eye in every direction. I have seen the Negroes
at the United States' Salines or
Saltworks of Shawanee Town, wearied with killing Pigeons, as
they alighted to drink the water
issuing from the leading pipes, for weeks at a time; and yet
in 1826, in Louisiana, I saw
congregated flocks of these birds as numerous as ever I had seen
them before, during a residence
of nearly thirty years in the United States.
The Breeding Habits of the Passenger Pigeon
The breeding of the Wild Pigeons, and the places chosen
for that purpose, are points of great
interest. The time is not much influenced by season, and the
place selected is where food is most
plentiful and most attainable, and always at a convenient distance
from water. Forest-trees of
great height are those in which the Pigeons form their nests.
Thither the countless myriads resort,
and prepare to fulfill one of the great laws of nature. At this
period the note of the Pigeon is a soft
coo-coo-coo-coo, much shorter than that of the domestic species.
The common notes resemble
the monosyllables kee-kee-kee-kee, the first being the loudest,
the others gradually diminishing
in power. The male assumes a pompous demeanor, and follows the
female, whether on the
ground or on the branches, with spread tail and drooping wings,
which it rubs against the part
over which it is moving. The body is elevated, the throat swells,
the eyes sparkle. He continues
his notes, and now and then rises on the wing, and flies a few
yards to approach the fugitive and
timorous female. Like the domestic Pigeon and other species,
they caress each other by billing,
in which action, the bill of the one is introduced transversely
into that of the other, and both
parties alternately disgorge the contents of their crop by repeated
efforts. These preliminary
affairs are soon settled, and the Pigeons commence their nests
in general peace and harmony.
They are composed of a few dry twigs, crossing each other, and
are supported by forks of the
branches. On the same tree from fifty to a hundred nests may
frequently be seen:--I might say a
much greater number, were I not anxious, kind reader, that however
wonderful my account of
the Wild Pigeon is, you may not feel disposed to refer it to
the marvelous. The eggs are two in
number, of a broadly elliptical form, and pure white. During
incubation, the male supplies the
female with food. Indeed, the tenderness and affection displayed
by these birds towards their
mates, are in the highest degree striking. It is a remarkable
fact, that each brood generally
consists of a male and a female.
Here again, the tyrant of the creation, man, interferes,
disturbing the harmony of this peaceful
scene. As the young birds grow up, their enemies, armed with
axes, reach the spot, to seize and
destroy all they can. The trees are felled, and made to fall
in such a way that the cutting of one
causes the overthrow of another, or shakes the neighboring trees
so much, that the young
Pigeons, or squabs, as they are named, are violently hurried
to the ground. In this manner also,
immense quantities are destroyed.
The young are fed by the parents in the manner described
above; in other words, the old bird
introduces its bill into the mouth of the young one in a transverse
manner, or with the back of
each mandible opposite the separations of the mandibles of the
young bird, and disgorges the
contents of its crop. As soon as the young birds are able to
shift for themselves, they leave their
parents, and continue separate until they attain maturity. By
the end of six months they are
capable of reproducing their species.
Various Aspects of Passenger Pigeon Lore
The flesh of the Wild Pigeon is of a dark color, but
affords tolerable eating. That of young birds
from the nest is much esteemed. The skin is covered with small
white filmy scales. The feathers
fall off at the least touch, as has been remarked to be the case
in the Carolina Turtle-dove. I have
only to add, that this species, like others of the same genus,
immerses its head up to the eyes
while drinking.
In March 1830, I bought about 350 of these birds in
the market of New York, at four cents a
piece. Most of these I carried alive to England, and distributed
them amongst several noblemen,
presenting some at the Same time to the Zoological Society.
This celebrated bird is mentioned by Dr. RICHARDSON
as "annually reaching the 62nd degree
of latitude, in the warm central districts of the Fur Countries,
and attaining the 58th parallel on
the coast of Hudson's Bay in very fine summers only. Mr. HUTCHINS
mentions a flock which
visited York Factory and remained there two days, in 1775, as
a very remarkable occurrence. A
few hordes of Indians that frequent the low flooded tracts at
the south end of Lake Winnipeg,
subsist principally on the Pigeons, during a part of the summer,
when the sturgeon-fishery is
unproductive, and the Zizania aquatica has not yet ripened; but
farther north, these birds are too
few in number to furnish a material article of diet." Mr.
TOWNSEND states that this species is
found on the Rocky Mountains, but not on the Columbia river,
where the Band-tailed Pigeon,
Columba fasciata of Say, is abundant. Whilst in the Texas, I
was assured that the Passenger
Pigeon was plentiful there, although at irregular intervals.
In the neighborhood of Boston it
arrives, as Dr. T. M. BREWER informs me, in small scattered flocks,
much less numerous than
in the interior of that State.
My friend Dr. BACHMAN says, in a note sent to me,
"In the more cultivated parts of the United
States, these birds now no longer breed in communities. I have
secured many nests scattered
throughout the woods, seldom near each other. Four years ago,
I saw several on the mountains
east of Lansinburgh, in the State of New York. They were built
close to the stems of thin but tall
pine trees (Pinus strobus), and were composed of a few sticks;
the eggs invariably two, and
white. There is frequently but one young bird in the nest, probably
from the loose manner in
which it has been constructed, so that either a young bird or
an egg drops out. Indeed, I have
found both at the foot of the tree. This is no doubt accidental,
and not to be attributed to a habit
which the bird may be supposed to have of throwing out an egg
or one of its young. I have
frequently taken two of the latter from the same nest and reared
them. The Wild Pigeons appear
in Carolina during winter at irregular periods, sometimes in
cold, but often in warm weather,
driven here no doubt, as you have mentioned, not by the cold,
but by a failure of mast in the
western forests." A curious change of habits has taken place
in England in those Pigeons which I
presented to the Earl of DERBY in 1830, that nobleman having
assured me that ever since they
began breeding in his aviaries, they have laid only one egg.
My noble friend has raised a great
number of these birds, and has distributed them freely. It is
not therefore very surprising that
some which have escaped from confinement have been shot; but
that this species should naturally
have a claim to be admitted into the British Fauna appears to
me very doubtful. The eggs measure
one inch five-eighths in length, one inch one-eighth and a half
in breadth, and are nearly equally
rounded at both ends.
Wanders continually in search of food throughout all
parts of North America. Wonderfully
abundant at times in particular districts.
John J. Audubon
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