272 COLUMBA LIVIA. 



parts of the cavern are tenanted by pigeons, the light blue of 

 whose plumage has a beautiful appearance, relieved as they are 

 by the dark ground of the moist rocks, and the soft murmur 

 of whose notes comes upon the ear with a pleasing though 

 melancholy effect. There, and in other places of a similar na- 

 ture, have I watched these beautiful birds, until I rendered 

 myself in some measure familiar with their habits ; and amid 

 such wild and desolate scenes have I loved to wander and in- 

 dulge in the not less wild imaginings of a spirit that desired to 

 hold converse with the unseen but ever present Spirit of the 

 universe. 



At early dawTi the pigeons may be seen issuing from these 

 retreats in straggling parties, which soon take a determinate 

 direction, and meeting with others by the way, proceed in a 

 loose body along the shores until they reach the cultivated 

 parts of the country, w^here they settle in large flocks, diligently 

 seeking for grains of barley and oats, pods of the charlock, seeds 

 of the wild mustard, j>olygona, and other plants, together 

 with several species of small shell-snails, especially Helix 

 ericetorum and Bulimus acutus, which abound in the sandy 

 pastures. When they have young, they necessarily make 

 several trips in the course of the day ; but from the end of 

 autumn to the beginning of summer they continue all day in 

 the fields. In winter they collect into flocks, sometimes com- 

 posed of several hundred individuals ; and, as at this season 

 they are anxious to make the best use of the short period of 

 day-light, they may easily be approached by a person acquainted 

 with the useful art of creeping and skulking. In general how- 

 ever they are rather shy, and very seldom allow a person to ad- 

 vance openly within sixty or seventy yards. It is not uncom- 

 mon to kill four or five at a shot ; and on this subject I have 

 heard many marvellous tales in the Hebrides ; but as I intend 

 to confine my relation to my own experience, I can only state, 

 that, during a snow-storm, when the pigeons had assembled 

 in a corn- yard remote from houses, I once killed twenty-three 

 at three successive shots ; that is, nine for the first, eight for 

 the next, and six for the third. Two or three wounded made 

 their escape to the rocks in the immediate neighbourhood. 



