THE PIE KIND. 



531 



food a kind of half maceration, to suit their 

 tender appetites. The heat of the bird's bo- 

 dy, assisted by air, and numerous glands se- 

 parating a milky fluid, are the most necessa- 

 ry instruments for this operation: but, in pro- 

 portion as the food macerates, it begins to 

 swell also; and the crop must, of conse- 

 quence, be considerably dilated. Still, how- 

 ever, the air which is contained in it gives 

 the bird a power of contracting it at plea- 

 sure ; for if it were filled with more solid sub- 

 stances, the bird could have no power to 

 compress it. But this is not the case, the 

 bird can compress its crop at pleasure; and 

 driving out the air, can thus drive out the 

 food also, which is forced up the gullet, like 

 a pellet from a pop-gun. The young ones, 

 open-mouthed, receive this tribute of affec- 

 tion, and are thus fed three times a day. In 

 feeding, the male usually supplies the young 

 female, while the old female supplies the 

 young of the opposite sex. The food with 

 which they are supplied, is more macerated 

 at the beginning; but as they grow older, 

 the parents give it less preparation, and at 

 last drive them out to shift for themselves. 

 When well fed, however, the old ones do not 

 wait for the total dismission of their young; 

 but in the same nest are to be found young 

 ones almost fit for flight, and eggs hatching 

 at the same time. 



The fidelity of the turtle-dove is proverbial, 

 and makes the usual comparison of such poets 

 as are content to repeat what others have 

 said before them ; but the pigeon of the dove- 

 house is not so faithful ; and having been sub- 

 jected to man, it puts on licentiousness among 

 its other domestic habits. Two males are 

 often seen quarrelling for the same mistress; 

 and when the female admits the addresses of 

 a new gallant, her old companion seems to 

 bear the contempt with some marks of dis- 

 pleasure, abstaining from her company; or if 

 he approaches, it is only to chastise her. 

 There have been instances when two males, 

 being displeased with their respective mates, 

 have thought proper to make an exchange, 

 and have lived in great harmony with their 

 new companions. 



So great is the produce of this bird in its 

 domestic state, that near fifteen thousand 

 may, in the space of four years, be produced 



no. 45 & 46. 



from a single pair. But the stock-dove sel- 

 dom breeds above twice a year ; for when 

 the winter months come, the whole employ- 

 ment of the fond couple is rather for self- 

 preservation, than transmitting a posterity 

 They seem, however, to have a stronger at- 

 tachment to their young than those who are 

 found to breed so often ; whether it be that 

 instinct acts more powerfully upon them in 

 their state of nature, or that their affections 

 are less divided by the multiplicity of claims. 

 It is from a species of these, therefore, that 

 those pigeons which are called Carriers, and 

 are used to convey letters, are produced. 

 These are easily distinguished from all others 

 by their eyes, which are compassed about 

 with a broad circle of naked white skin, and 

 by being of a dark blue or blackish colour. 

 It is from their attachment to their native 

 place, and particularly where they have 

 brought up their young, that these birds are 

 employed in several countries as the most 

 expeditious carriers. They are first brought 

 from the place where they were bred, and 

 whither it is intended to send them back with 

 information. The letter is tied under the 

 bird's wing, and it is then let loose to return. 

 The little animal no sooner finds itself at li- 

 berty, than its passion for its native spot di- 

 rects all its motions. It is seen, upon these 

 occasions, flying directly into the clouds to 

 an amazing height ; and then, with the great- 

 est certainty and exactness, directing itself, 

 by some surprising instinct, towards home, 

 which lies sometimes at many miles distance, 

 bringing its message to those to whom it is 

 directed. By what marks they discover the 

 place, by what chart they are guided in the 

 right way, is to us utterly unknown : certain 

 it is, that in the space of an hour and a half 

 they perform a journey of forty miles ; which 

 is a degree of despatch three times greater 

 than the fleetest quadruped can perform. 

 These birds are not brought up at present 

 with as much care as formerly, when they 

 were sent from governors in a besieged city 

 to generals that were coming to relieve it 

 without; when they were sent from princes 

 to their subjects with the tidings of some for- 

 tunate event ; or from lovers to their mistres- 

 ses with expressions of their passion. The 

 only use we now see made of them is to be 



4H 



