THE WOODPIGEON 



of young rape, only a few acres in all, which 

 had been uncovered by the drifting enow, 

 and had laid it as bare as if the earth had 

 never been planted. Seeing what hearty meals 

 the woodpigeon makes, it is not surprising 

 that it should sometimes throw up pellets 

 of undigested material. This is not, however, 

 a regular habit, as in the case of hawks and 

 owls, and is rather, perhaps, the result of 

 some abnormally irritating food. 



Pigeons digest their food with the aid of a 

 secretion in the crop, and it is on this soft 

 material, popularly known as " pigeons' 

 milk," that they feed their nestlings. 

 This method suggests analogy to that of 

 the petrels, which rear their young on fish- 

 oil partly digested after the same fashion. 

 Indeed, all the pigeons are devoted parents. 

 Though the majority build only a very pre- 

 tentious platform of sticks for the two eggs, 

 they sit very close and feed the young ones 

 untiringly. Some of the pigeons of Australia, 

 indeed, go even further. Not only do they 

 build a much more substantial nest of leafy 

 twigs, but the male bird actually sits 

 throughout the day, such paternal sense of 

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