Both John James Audubon and Annie Dillard describe flocks of birds in two excerpts from their books, Ornithological Biographies and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, respectively. However, their portrayals are dissimilar both in how they choose to describe the birds and what initial effects viewing the birds has on the writers.

Audubon approaches his descriptions of the birds in a more scientific manner; he relates the flock of birds to natural phenomena or geometrical shapes. On the other hand, Dillard uses more artistic comparisons, showing that there is great contract between the two authors' writings. When Audubon first observed a flock of pigeons, he noted that "the birds poured in in countless multitudes" so that the "air was literally filled with Pigeons." Audubon draws attention to their sheer number, which is an important figure in scientific records. Aside from noticing this, Audubon also watched the birds as they flew...