Chap. 53.] PIGEONS. 519 



* 



this spirit of ostentation that they are handed over, fast hound 

 as it were, to the hawk ; for from the noise that they make, 

 which, in fact, is only produced by the flapping of their wings, 

 their long feathers become twisted and disordered : otherwise, 

 when they can fly without any impediment, they are far swifter 

 in their movements than the hawk. The robber, lurking amid 

 the dense foliage, keeps on the look-out for them, and seizes 

 them at the very moment that they are indulging their vain- 

 glorious self-complaisance. 



(37.) It is for this reason that it is necessary to keep along 

 with the pigeons the bird that is known as the " tinnun- 

 culus;" 56 as it protects them, and by its natural superiority 

 scares away the hawk ; so much so, indeed, that the hawk will 

 vanish at the very sight of it, and the instant it hears its 

 voice. Hence it is that the pigeons have an especial regard 

 for this bird ; and, it is said, if one of these birds is buried 

 at each of the four corners of the pigeon-house in pots that 

 have been newly glazed, the pigeons will not change their 

 abode a result which has been obtained by some by cutting a 

 joint of their wings with an instrument of gold; for if any 

 other were used, the wounds would be not unattended with 

 danger. The pigeon in general may be looked upon as a bird 

 fond of change ; they have the art, too, among themselves of 

 gaining one another over, and so seducing their companions : 

 hence it is that we frequently find them return attended by 

 others which they have enticed away. 



CHAP. 53. WONDERFUL THINGS DONE BY THEM; PRICES AT 



WHICH THEY HAVE BEEN SOLD. 



In addition to this, pigeons have acted as messengers in 

 affairs of importance. During the siege of Mutina, Decimus 

 Brutus, who was in the town, sent despatches to the camp of 

 the consuls 67 fastened to pigeons' feet. Of what use to Antony 

 then were his intrenchments, and all the vigilance of the be- 



56 Cuvier takes*this to be the kestril, or Falco tinnunculus of Linnaeus, 

 and considers it to be synonymous with the cenchris, mentioned in c. 73, 

 and in B. xxix. c. 6, though Pliny does not seem to be aware of the 

 identity. 



57 Hirtius and Pansa. Frontinus, B. iii. c. 13, says that pigeons were 

 gent by Hirtius to Brutus. At the present day, letters are sent fastened 

 under their wings. 



