ciiAr. XV. 



300 FARMING FOR LADIES, [c 



in three hours and a half; the distance, in 

 a straight Hne, being estimated at three 

 hundred miles. The power thus possessed 

 by the pigeon, has, by an interchange of 

 birds, been made available in secret cor- 

 respondence both in war and commercial 

 speculation ; as well, it may be supposed, as 

 between anxious lovers who wish to waft their 

 sighs " from Indus to the Pole :" an em- 

 ployment more in character with so gentle 

 a messenger. 



It has, indeed, been asserted that they are 

 also known to make daily marauding ex- 

 cursions, in harvest time, from the Nether- 

 lands to the opposite coast of Norfolk, there 

 to feed on what they can pick up : re- 

 turning within a few hours, although the 

 distance is not less than forty leagues. 



The real English dove-cote pigeon breeds 

 but twice a year, generally in the months 

 of April or May, which is called their 

 " spring-flight ;" and again in September or 

 October, as their " harvest-flight ;" when 

 they pick up such plenty of food in the fields 

 as to become independent of that which they 

 ought to receive at home. They are a hardy 



