ROCK DOYE. 



cock pigeon gets to be superannuated and feeble, I have known 

 the others set on him, and try to peck him to death. 



Pigeons do not drink, like other birds, by sipping the water, 

 and raising their heads to swallow it ; they plunge their beaks 

 well down into the water, and imbibe it in great gulps like a 

 thirsty horse. At the village of Girgeh, on the Nile, they have 

 an exceptional way of drinking. They fly to the middle of the 

 river, and flutter over the water, dipping their beaks in it as if 

 they were sea birds. I do not know of their doing so anywhere 

 else. I once saw some pigeons in Munich, near the Post Office, 

 sip water from a small spout, instead of drinking from the tank. 

 Pigeons are abundant drinkers, as well as voracious eaters. 



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