252 



OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



fowls. The most familiar representative of this class is the 

 Maltese Hen Pigeon. 



History in domestication. The history of the pigeon in 

 domestication presents some very interesting features. Its use 

 as a messenger has been mentioned. From very early times 



FIG. 204. Nun Pigeons * 



people of privileged classes took advantage of the habits of 

 the pigeon to grow the birds for their own use at the expense 

 of the community. The Assyrians and some other ancient peo- 

 ples considered the pigeon sacred to certain of their deities. 

 Sometimes all pigeons were so regarded ; at other times and 

 places only white pigeons were sacred, those of other colors 

 being used by the common people. 



In medieval times in England, the lord of a manor, when 

 leasing farms to tenants, reserved the right to let his pigeons 



forage over them. As pigeons live 

 mostly upon grains and seeds, caring 

 little for green vegetation and insects, 

 the newly planted fields of the farmer 

 were the favorite feeding places of 

 his landlord's pigeons. The landlords, 

 being able to keep pigeons without 

 other expense than that of providing 

 shelter for them, built large dovecots 

 near the manor houses and kept their tables plentifully supplied 

 with pigeons. At one time it was estimated that there were 

 more than twenty thousand such dovecots in England. The 



1 Photograph from E. R. B. Chapman, Stoneham, Massachusetts. 



FIG. 205. German Frillback 

 Pigeons 1 



