66 MID-APRIL 
if the weather keep fine and warm they may 
go on nesting right up to autumn. They 
assemble in great flocks in the winter, their 
numbers being largely increased by arrivals 
from the continent. They devour seed crops 
of all kinds, and do not spare turnip tops. 
They probably never eat insects or flesh. 
They love corn but especially peas and beans. 
When on the ground the gait is peculiar, the 
bird advancing with a nodding movement of 
the head. The flesh is delicious, but tough: 
It is wise to eat pigeons as young as possible, 
and whilst in what is known as the ‘ squeaker ’ 
or ‘squab’ age. The feathers and skin@are 
very shot resisting, and the birds remarkably 
tenacious of life. The flight is strong and 
rapid. The sportsman rarely comes on the birds 
in the winter near enough to shoot them, as 
they are peculiarly wary and difficult to 
stalk. They are generally waited for in the 
evening, the gunner being well concealed, as 
they fly to their roosting places. Sometimes 
shelters are built in the tops of high trees, in 
which the sportsmen wait in ambush for them. 
