284 VARRO ON FARMING [bk. 



it must be possible for the mothers to fly out of it 

 away from the pigeon-cote. For this there are two 

 reasons: (i) because, in case they are losing appe- 

 tite and are growing feeble in captivity, a flight into 

 the country and the free air brings back their 

 strength; (2) because, they act as a decoy; ' for they 

 themselves in any case come back to the pigeon- 

 cote because of their young ones, unless they are 

 killed by a crow or caught by a hawk. These latter 



7 pigeon-keepers generally kill by means of two limed 

 twigs, which are stuck in the ground and then bent 

 so as to touch each other. An animal of the kind 

 on which hawks prey is then tied between them, 

 and so, smearing themselves with the birdlime they 

 are beguiled. That pigeons do return to a place is 

 shown by the fact that people often let them fly 

 from their laps in the theatre, and they return 

 home, and unless they did so they would never be 



8 let loose. Food is given them in small troughs 

 placed round the walls, which are filled from out- 

 side by means of pipes. They are fond of millet, 

 wheat, barley, peas, kidney-beans, and vetch. Much 

 the same methods must be adopted — as far as pos- 

 sible — by those who keep wild pigeons in turrets 

 and on the roof of the farmhouse. 



ings for a little while they come back cheered and refreshed 

 to their young ones." 



^ Propter inlicium. The Geoponica (xlv, 3) state that if you 

 anoint your pigeons with myrrh, or add cummin or old wine 

 to their food, "all the neighbouring pigeons noticing the 

 sweetness of their breath will come to your dove-cote." 



