e evening was the "wild pigeon of
America," and the following facts regarding its natural history--
although many of them are by no means new--may prove interesting to the
reader, as they did to those who listened to the relation of them around
our camp-fire.

The "passenger" is less in size than the house pigeon. In the air it
looks not unlike the kite, wanting the forked or "swallow" tail. That
of the pigeon is cuneiform. Its colour is best described by calling it
a nearly uniform slate. In the male the colours are deeper, and the
neck-feathers present the same changeable hues of green, gold, and
purple-crimson, generally observed in birds of this species. It is only
in the woods, and when freshly caught or killed, that these brilliant
tints can be seen to perfection. They fade in captivity, and
immediately after the bird has been shot. They seem to form part of its
life and liberty, and disappear when it is robbed of either. I have
often thrust the wild pigeon, freshly killed, into my game-bag,
glittering like an opal. I have drawn it forth a few hours after of a
dull leaden hue, and altogether unlike the same bird.

As with all birds of this tribe, the female is inferior to the male,
both in size and plumage. The eye is less vivid. In the male it is of
the most brilliant fiery orange, inclosed in a well-defined circle of
red. The eye is in truth its finest feature, and never fails to strike
the beholder with admiration.

The most singular fact in the natural history of the "passenger," is
their countless numbers. Audubon saw a flock that contained "one
billion one hundred and sixteen millions of birds!" Wilson counted, or
rather computed, another flock of "two thousand two hundred and thirty
millions!" These numbers seem incredible. I have no doubt of their
truth. I have no doubt that they are _under_ rather than _over_ the
numbers actually seen by both these naturalists, for both made most
liberal allowances in their calculations.

Where do these immense flocks come from?

The wild pigeons breed in all parts of America. Their breeding-places
are found as far north as the Hudson's Bay, and they have been seen in
the southern forests of Louisiana and Texas. The nests are built upon
high trees, and resemble immense rookeries. In Kentucky, one of their
breeding-places was forty miles in length, by several in breadth! One
hundred nests will often be found upon a single tree, and in each nest
t