CHAP. XV.] FARMING FOR LADIES. 311 



ledge, or a platform at the bottom, for the 

 pigeons to alight and walk upon. A perching- 

 rod projecting from each hole will be likewise 

 convenient. The outside should also be painted 

 white, both as the pigeons are very fond of 

 that colour, and that it forms a mark for 

 them when roaming at a distance from home ; 

 and the inside lime-washed. If built over a 

 stable, or against a house, care should be 

 taken to prevent the access of cats, as well as 

 rats, weasels, or such vermin ; all of which 

 are destructive to the broods. 



That inauspicious foreteller of domestic 

 calamity — 



" The hateful messenger of heavy things, 

 Of death and dolour telling — " 



the owl, although chiefly living upon field- 

 mice, will also sometimes get into the cote at 

 night and carry off a nestling, and this cannot 

 be guarded against without shutting up the 

 cote every evening ; which is not only incon- 

 venient, but would prevent the pigeons from 

 going out as they otherwise would, at the 

 break of day. 



If a dove-cote be fixed over a stable, it has 

 the advantage of being partitioned off" the loft 



