Pigeon Roost Discovered Near Holmesville, Mississippi

A pigeon roost has recently been discovered about ten miles from Holmesville, Miss., where some of the lovers of sport have repaired and killed hundreds. The editor of the Holmesville Free Press states that at the roost, trees may be seen almost branchless, caused by their having been overburdened by the weight of those birds at night. When they have assembled, and at the time of their collecting at the roost, nothing is to be heard by the roaring occasioned by their continual fluttering. Those who know nothing of the appearance of a "pigeon roost" are informed that it is a place selected by the wild pigeon at the present season of the year, to feed upon the mast of the yielding oak. Hither they assembled in large flocks from a distance of many miles around, during the existence of the mast, as regular as the sun sets in the west, and at the hour of dawn, prepare to seek again the scenes of their daily feastings.

March 12, 1844. A pigeon roost. Rochester Republican 27(45): 4.

Remarkable Pigeon Roost - Forty Acres in a Valley

Near Macon, Miss., is a remarkable pigeon roost. It embraces an area of forty acres, in a valley surrounded by precipitous hills. A creek spreads over it, covering most of the surface with water from one to five feet deep. There is all over it a thick growth of cane, vines, bushes and saplings, which, with the quicksands, muck and water, constitute it an absolutely impenetrable morass. It is a wonderful instint that prompted the birds to select this, the most secure and safest of all places in the whole region, for their lodging-house. Between sunset and dark pigeons come in from all quarters in immense numbers, darkening the heavens and producing a roaring noise that can be heard two or three miles.

January 18, 1883. A pigeon roost - forty acres. Williamsport Daily Gazette and Bulletin 14(16): 2. Also: April 7, 1883 in Washington D.C. Bee 1(35): 4. Transcribed text from Bee article.