280 WILD PIGEON. 



however, not always enclosed in gold, but merely in paper ; 

 in which case, to prevent the letters being defaced by damp, 

 the legs of the Pigeons were first bathed in vinegar, with a 

 view to keep them cool, so that they might not settle to drink, 

 or wash themselves on the way, which in that hot climate 

 they were often doing. 



Of late years, the number of Wild Pigeons in England is, 

 like the Swallows and Starlings, evidently diminishing, and 

 it is rare to see a flock of any magnitude ; but formerly they 

 were very abundant, as we may learn, not only from incidental 

 remarks in ancient writers, but from allusions to the par- 

 ticular manner of catching them. Thus we find the prophet 

 Isaiah speaking of them, " flying as a cloud :" and constant 

 allusions are made to their prodigious numbers. Indeed, 

 had they not been far more numerous than they are at 

 present, it would not have been worth while to have adopted 

 the expensive mode of catching them, which we believe is at 

 present entirely given up, though till within a few years it 

 was practised near Cava, on the Gulf of Sorento, in Italy, 

 where, upon the tops of some bushy hills, were erected 

 small circular towers : on each of these, towards the latter 

 end of September, a man posted himself, and as soon as 

 a flight of Pigeons passed on their way through the valley, 

 he flung a flat stone over them, which by its form or manner 

 of throwing, made a sort of whistling noise, which frightened 

 the birds, and hastened their flight towards a place of refuge. 

 Another was thrown from each tower as they passed, until 

 the affrighted flock was thus driven to the last turret in the 

 valley, where a large net was spread in the hollows amongst 

 the bushes, in which the birds were taken. Great art was 

 requisite in throwing the stone, as upon this the success of 

 the diversion depended. 



At a small village called Gerde, about a league from Bag- 

 nere de Bigorres, in the Pyrenees, a mode somewhat similar 

 is adopted from the middle of September to the middle of 

 November, which attracts the notice, and is resorted to as a 

 favourite amusement,, by those who visit that beautiful coun- 

 try. Large nets are stretched across the end of a narrow 



