i 2 6 BIRDS IN LEGEND 



instantly began to catch the birds, and a great many were 

 actually taken; but now and then one, stronger than the rest, 

 succeeded in gaining the higher parts of the surrounding build- 

 ings, enthusiastically cheered by the crowd. 



Those who had once succeeded in making their escape were 

 regarded as sacred forever with all their descendants. The 

 state provided them with food from its granaries, and before 

 long, lest by mistake any free pigeons should be caught on the next 

 Palm Sunday the Signory next decreed that other birds must be 

 used on the occasion. 



F. Hopkinson Smith, in his Gondola Days, gives a more 

 secular account of the origin of the regard felt by the 

 Venetians for these "pets of the State," whose ancestor, 

 the genial artist writes, brought the good news to Venice 

 of the capture (in 1205) of Candia by Admiral Enrico 

 Dandolo. 



