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 by-stander 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
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.
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