492 Home Nature-Study Course. 



LESSON XLIX. 



THE HABITS OF PIGEONS. 



Purpose. — To draw the attention of the pupils to the way pigeons 

 act, and to relate these actions to their life necessities. 



Where and on what do the pigeons feed? They are often seen in 

 the road ; what do they find there to eat ? An interesting fact about 

 pigeons is that they are very fond of salt, and though they are seed- 

 eaters, they will take bits of salt codfish for the sake of its savor. Note 

 that pigeons drink like a horse and not like a hen; that is, they ;drink 

 without lifting the head to let the water flow down by gravity. Note the 

 peculiar way pigeons nod when walking, as if the head were in some 

 way attached to the foot, and notice that this peculiar movement sends 

 waves of sunlight over the shimmering colors of the bird's plumage. 

 Call attention to the peculiar flight of the pigeon, and be sure that the 

 children can identify them in the air from other birds. Ask them to 

 describe the difiference between the flight of the pigeon and that of the 

 crow and of the hawk. Let the pupils study the cooing of the birds, 

 and tell how many notes there are and if possible what they mean. 



/ LESSON L. 



A STUDY OF THE APPEARANCE OF THE PIGEON. 



Purpose. — To accustom the pupil to see quickly and accurately a 

 bird's appearance and to remember what he sees. 



This should be a lesson of observation out-of-doors. If there are 

 pigeons near-by it may be a recess exercise, letting the pupils go out to 

 observe the birds and tell what they can remember of a bird's appearance 

 when they return. They should remember the following things, if not 

 at first, through practice in this sort of memorizing: Colors of the head, 

 neck, breast, back, tail, beak, eyes, legs, feet, claws. 



This will prove most excellent training for fitting the pupils later to 

 observe colors of the wild birds. 



LESSON LL 



PIGEON HOUSES. 



Purpose. — To teach how pigeons should be comfortably housed. 



This is very good work for the pupils in the manual training class. 

 Whether there be manual training in the school or not, boys enjoy carpen- 

 try work and like to build bird houses. The Rock pigeon from which our 

 pigeons descended nest in caves and holes in the rocks and never in trees. 

 Formerly in America pigeons were housed in the gable ends of barns. 



