628 BIRDS. 



All the overflowings of his heart 

 To Bathyllus to impart ; 

 Each soft line, with nimble wing, 

 To the lovely boy I bring. 



Taurosthenes also, by means of a pigeon he had decked with 

 purple, sent advice to his father, who lived in the isle of iEgina, 

 of his victory in the Olympic games, on the very day he had ob- 

 tained it. And, at the siege of Modena, Hirtius without, and 

 Brutus within the walls, kept, by the help of pigeons, a constant 

 correspondence ; baffling every stratagem of the besieger Antony, 

 to intercept their couriers. In the times of the crusade, there 

 were many more instances of these birds of peace being employed 

 in the service of war ; Joinville relates one during the crusade of 

 Saint Louis ; and Tasso another, during the siege of Jerusalem. 



The nature of pigeons is to be gregarious ; to lay only two eggs ; 

 to breed many times in the year; to bill in their courtship; for 

 the male and female to sit by turns, and also to feed their young ; 

 to cast their provision out of their craw into the young one's 

 mouths ; to drink, not like other birds by sipping, but by conti- 

 nual draughts, like quadrupeds ; and to have notes mournful or 

 plaintive. [Pennant. 



SECTION X. 



Bull/inch. 

 Lexia pyrrhula. Link. 



The wild note of this bird is not in the least musical ; but when 

 tamed it becomes remarkably docile, and may be taught any tune 

 after a pipe, or to whistle any notes in the justest manner; it 

 seldom forgets what it has learned ; and will become so tame as to 

 come at call, perch on its master's shoulders, and (at command) 

 go through a difficult musical lesson. They may be taught to 

 speak ; and some thus instructed are annually brought to London 

 from Germany. 



The male is distinguished from the female by the superior black. 

 ness of its crown, and by the rich crimson that adorns the cheeks, 

 breast, belly, and throat, of the male : those of the female being 

 of a dirty colour : the bill is black, short, and very thick ; the 

 head large ; the hind part of the neck and the back are grey ; the 



