Habits of the Dovecot Pigeon. 343 



Art. II. Notes on the Habits of the Dovecot Pigeon. 

 By Charles Waterton, Esq. 



" Aspicis ut veniant ad Candida tecta columbae, 



Accipiat nullas, sordida turris aves." Ovid. Tris. 



See, to the whitewashed cot what doves have flown I 

 While, that unwhitewashed, not a bird will own. 



By this it appears, that the old Romans paid considerable 

 attention to the raising of pigeons. 



Our common dovecot pigeon is only a half-reclaimed bird ; 

 not being sufficiently domesticated to be deemed private pro- 

 perty in the strictest sense of the word. Thus, I may raise 

 any quantity of these pigeons ; but, if they should forsake my 

 dovecot, and retire to that of my neighbour, I cannot claim 

 them. However, in order that dovecot pigeons may not fall 

 into the hands of those who contribute nothing to their sup- 

 port, the legislature has enacted a fine of forty shillings to 

 be paid by him who has been convicted of having shot a dove- 

 cot pigeon. 



This act, till of late years, was of great use to the farmer; 

 for it enabled him to raise this useful bird in vast abundance : 

 but now the times are changed. The owners of dovecots 

 have to complain, not only of bargemen, who shoot their 

 pigeons along the whole line of the canals whenever an op- 

 portunity offers, but also of a plundering set of land vaga- 

 bonds, who attack the dovecots in the dead of the night, and 

 sometimes actually rob them of their last remaining bird. 

 The origin of this novel species of depredation can be clearly 

 traced to the modern amusement, known by the name of a 

 pigeon-shooting match. A purveyor is usually engaged by 

 the members. He offers a tempting price to poachers and 

 and other loose characters, and they agree to supply him with 

 any quantity of dovecot pigeons to be ready for the day on 

 which the cruel exhibition is to take place. Generally, under 

 the covert of a dark night, these hired thieves go to the 

 place where they have previously seen a ladder, and carry it 

 off to the devoted dovecot, upon the outside of which they 

 mount, and with great caution fix a net to the glover, or 

 aperture, on the top of the building. After they have effected 

 this, they descend from the roof, and immediately force the 

 door to get at the pigeons. Should, however, their original 

 survey of the dovecot, prior to their mounting on it, have 

 shown them that the door is strong enough to resist their 

 attempts to break it open, they take the precaution to leave a 

 man on the roof, where he seizes the pigeons as soon as they 



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