140 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



on the side of his affections, thenceforth receives 

 these importunate lazy-bodies with a peck of the 

 beak. 



"Let us consider certain other details of the pi- 

 geon's habits. I will not tell you, these things being 

 pretty well known to you, of the cooings of the pigeon 

 when it puffs out its throat, of its ceremonious salu- 

 tations, its bowing to the very ground, its pirouettes 

 when it shows off before its mate. I shall interest 

 you more by acquainting you with its gregarious in- 

 stinct, which impels it to assemble in immense flocks 

 when it travels, in its wild state, to find food." 



