18 May 2014

Great Pigeon Roost at Kilbourn City in Wisconsin

The great pigeon roost at the West this year is in Wisconsin. A paper at Kilbourn city says that for three weeks pigeons have been flying in flocks which no man could number. On Saturday, April 22d, for above two hours before nightfall, they flew in one continuous flock from south to north, darkening the air and astonishing the people by the sound of their wings. — Hotels are full of trappers and hunters, coopers are busy making barrels, and men, women and children are active in packing the birds or filling the barrels. They are shipped to Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New York and Boston. From 10,000 to 30,000 birds are forwarded daily.

May 30, 1871. [Great pigeon roost at Kilbourn City, Wisconsin.] St. Lawrence Republican and Ogdensburg Weekly Journal 41(28): 2. Abbreviated version on June 1, 1871 in Edgefield Advertiser 32(23): 2.