HUNTINGDON 



The county of Huntingdon must be passed 

 over with the notice of a solitary but very fine 

 example — that of the beautiful dovecote stand- 

 ing in a small paddock at Grove House, Fen- 

 stanton, near St. Ives. It is believed to have 

 been built about a century ago, its form and de- 

 tails being copied from one seen in Italy. 



It is remarkable for its height; the dome, 

 supported on six slender pillars, being fifty-two 

 feet from the ground; the weather-vane — acock 

 — adds four feet more. It is a brick building, cir- 

 cular, with a circumference of some sixty feet. 

 There is a handsome string-course, with some 

 ornamental work beneath the eaves. It has four 

 stories, and provides accommodation for about 

 one thousand pairs of birds. The present occu- 

 pants are chiefly owls and daws, who, under the 

 genial sway of a bird-loving owner, hold their 

 lofty fortress in unchallenged peace. 



Atthispoint,havingnowexploredsomeparts 

 of the Welsh Border and the Midlands, it may 

 be not uninteresting to record some instances, 

 scattered over variousdistricts,inwhichpigeons 

 were at one time suffered, even encouraged, to 

 inhabit quarters wholly unconnected with them 



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