152 PIGEON SHOOTING. 



with the mcrease of population and the increasing per- 

 secution to which they are subjected. Xot a third of the 

 numbers, that formerly flocked our woods and forests, 

 are now seen. But incalculable as their ao-areaate 



CO O 



amount seemed to be with us some sixty years since, 

 it is small, indeed, to that spoken of in America, — 

 the passenger pigeon of that country darkening the 

 air for miles, when the flocks are on the wing ; and 

 when they settle, breaking do^Yn., from their num- 

 bers, the very forests on which they rest. The Rock- 

 dove, or White-rumped pigeon, is the staple that has 

 supplied so much theme for the poet and the histo- 

 rian, as the messenger of the lover and the politician. 

 The "Tumbler" and the "Carrier" pigeons are two of 

 the fancy breeds of this species, remarkable for a 

 deviation of structure from the original type. Their 

 heads and bills are in proportion, the former shorter, 

 and the latter longer, than in their original. 



The Turtle-dove {Turtur migratorhis). — This 

 pigeon is smaller and more slender than the true 

 pigeon, and its tail is not nearly so ample, but gra- 

 duated. It occm's in Kent and Hertfordshire, in 

 some of the northern counties, and in Scotland and 

 Ireland : it appears to be more frequent in the 

 wooded parts of Kent than elsewhere in England, 

 but its visitation \^-ith us is altogether rare. Sir W. 

 Jardine speaks of a specimen shot in the garden at 

 Jardine Hall : — " The bird had frequented a break 

 of peas, nearly- ripe, for several days, and at last 

 attracted the notice of the gardener, as one not pre- 



