BIRD LIFE, ETC. 149 



and swelling of the basal margins of the mandibles. 

 When a boy, I had a young rock dove, which I fed for 

 some time in this manner, until the bill became tumid 

 and sore, when, in consequence of advice from a friend, 

 I took a mouthful of barley and water, and introduced 

 the pigeon's bill, when the bird soon satisfied itself, 

 flapping its wings gently and uttering a low cry all the 

 while. It grew up vigorously, shed the yellow down-tips 

 of its feathers, and began to fly about. Towards the 

 middle of autumn it renewed its plumage, and assumed 

 the bright and beautiful tints of the adult male. When- 

 ever I escaped from the detested pages of Virgil and 

 Horace, the pigeon was sure to fly to me, and sometimes 

 alighted on my head or shoulder, directing its bill towards 

 my mouth, and flapping its wings. Nor did it ever fly 

 off with the wild pigeons, which almost every day fed 

 near the house, although it had no companions of its 

 own species. At length some fatal whim induced it to 

 make an excursion to a village about a mile distant, 

 when it alighted on the roof of a hut and the boys pelted 

 it dead with stones. Long and true was my sorrow for 

 my lost companion ; the remembrance of it will probably 

 continue as long as life. I have since mourned the loss 

 of a far dearer dove. They were gentle and lovely 

 beings ; but while the one has been blended with the 

 elements, the other remains " hid with Christ in God," 

 and for it I "mourn not as those who have no hope." 

 British Birds, vol. i. pp. 275, 276. 



