LECTURE VI. 



as the mlTns*. Tlie Pigeon is the C. Oenas of 



IJIIIKIU-V It must not be coiifoiuiilcil \\ith tin- 

 Wtod-Pigcon, Ring-Doce; or tin- C'olumba Pa- 

 lunihitx of LIMIIUMIS wliicli is of inucli larger size: 

 in -OHM- u liters, ln.\\f\(r, \\r liml this lattrr bird 

 im|>roprr!v naiin <1 the Stock-Dove. Thus Thom- 

 son in particular so names it* 



" The Stock-Dove only thro' the forest cooes 



Mournfully hoarse; oft ceasing from his plaint, 



Short interval of weary woe ; again 



The sad idea of his murder' d mate 



Struck from his side by savage fowler's guile 



Across his fancy comes ; and then resounds 



A louder song of sorrow thro' the grove." 



intelligence ; or if a letter be tied to its leg, it becomes the swiftest 

 of all messengers. The tales related of this bird are almost in- 

 credible. One has been known to fly from Babylon to Aleppo^ 

 (which is considered as a distance of thirty days journey,) In th 

 space of forty-eight hours. 



* Linflaeus observes that the domestic Pigeon commonly, or 

 at least frequently, breeds once a month ; laying two eggs each 

 time : the increased production of the whole, would amount in 

 the space of four years to the number of eighteen thousand. 

 Others say that from a single pair of Pigeons may proceed four* 

 teen thousand in the space of four years. 



