CHAP. XV.] FARMING FOR LADIES. 297 



the dove-cote of the Zoological Gardens, in 

 the Regent's Park ; yet these are unusual in- 

 stances, and the eggs were broken by other 

 birds of the same species which were inha- 

 biting it. 



They are birds of passage, of different size 

 and plumage, found in almost every part of 

 the known world, except the more northern 

 latitudes, and the multitudes which inhabit 

 the forests of North America are so extraor- 

 dinary that a flight of them which was wit- 

 nessed by Audubon, the naturalist, when they 

 were migrating from one district to another 

 in search of food, was such as literally to fill 

 the whole air, for leagues together, with so 

 dense a mass of pigeons, that the light of 

 noonday was obscured as by an eclipse. In 

 their roosting-places, they settle down upon 

 the trees in such vast numbers that, although 

 not large in size, the branches break down 

 under their weight ; and not only do wolves, 

 foxes, and birds of prey follow them, but 

 farmers fatten hogs upon their flesh. 



The turtle-dove is also a migratory bird, 

 usually arriving in this country some time in 

 the month of April, and leaving it in the 



