BOOK OF DOVECOTES 



contradicts the theory of a Hving Yorkshire- 

 man, who attributes the falling-off in the num- 

 ber of birds frequenting his dovecote to the 

 presence of an owl; quite to the contrary, says 

 Waterton, the owl is there, not for the birds, 

 but for the rats, and is regarded by the right- 

 ful inmates as a welcome friend. This view, 

 which we sincerely hope may be correct, was 

 greatly valued by that lover of the owl and 

 raven, Bosworth Smith, with whom the reader 

 will come into closer touch before this volume 

 ends. 



Before dealing with Yorkshire dovecotes 

 generally, allusion may be made to one or two 

 special features of our subject to be found in 

 that extensive county. No visitor to Darring- 

 ton, a village in the neighbourhood of Ponte- 

 fract, which has been described and chronicled 

 by that staunch Yorkshireman, Mr. J. S. Flet- 

 cher in his fascinating volume. Memorials of 

 a Yorkshire Parish, should leave it without a 

 glance at the old Vicar's Dovecote, one of two 

 thevillage owns. It is, indeed, no longer either 

 applied to its original purpose, nor in its origi- 

 nal form, having been converted into vestries 

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