We learn from Saratoga county, N.Y. and the northern parts of the state great mischief has been done in the Indian corn this season, by the wild pigeons which flock in those regions in immense numbers. They attack the corn fields, pull up, or scratch up the young stalks, and eat the kernel at the root. We have heard it stated by a gentleman whose fields have been ravaged in this way, that he believed at least a hundred acres of young corn have been destroyed in Saratoga county. They also make great havoc among the oats.
June 22, 1829. [Wild pigeon mischief in corn fields of Saratoga county.] Baltimore Patriot 33(149): 2.