WOOD PIGEONS ANCIENT NEST. 153 



been taken, hitherto ineffectually, to reduce their 

 numbers. Among the splendid antique curiosities 

 of this mansion of high aristocracy, visitors do not 

 forget that living antique the house-keeper, who is 

 said to have advanced upon the date of one hundred 

 years. 



WOOD-PIGEONS. The autumnal markets in the 

 metropolis and in most large towns, generally ex- 

 hibit a considerable supply of these birds. They 

 assemble in large flocks for the night in thick coverts, 

 perching on the middle branches and the tops of 

 the oaks. Windy and boisterous evenings in No- 

 vember are most appropriate to the sport of shoot- 

 ing wood-pigeons, which always roost with their 

 faces to windward, and the gunners guardedly ap- 

 proaching behind them, hidden by the remaining 

 foliage, and aided by the murmuring of the wind, 

 obtain a fair chance of success, though the ring-dove 

 is particularly shy and watchful. This is a sport for 

 a company of gunners, each choosing a different stand 

 in the twilight, by which plan, taking the birds sit- 

 ting or flying, the bags may be well filled. As the 

 game is large, short guns and heavy shot are the 

 best adapted. The flesh of the wood-pigeon is in 

 perfection in the latter summer and the autumnal 

 months, from their ability in those seasons to obtain 

 the best food. During winter, feeding on coleworts 

 or any green food they can find, their flesh is loose 

 and bitter. From their large size, which would be 

 increased by domestication, the experiment might be 

 successful. At Pamber House, Hants, there had been, 

 immemorially, an annual nest of wood-pigeons in a 

 H 5 



