CHAP. iv.J FURTHER CHARACTERISTICS. 145 



was one day discoursing with me respecting the virtues 

 of her husband : " 'E 's a werry good 'usband, Sir, a 

 werry good 'usband indeed. To be sure, he do beat me 

 now and then ; but you know, Sir, men must have a 

 little reckeration ! " 



Pigeons are thirsty creatures ; they like the neigh- 

 bourhood of water, and seem heartily to enjoy the act of 

 drinking. This is performed by plunging the head in, 

 nearly up to the eyes, and taking a full draught at once, 

 instead of sipping like cocks and hens. In incubation, 

 they will not sit, like hens, much beyond their proper 

 time ; it is after the young have appeared that the as- 

 siduity of the parents is most manifested. Shakspere 

 beautifully describes the character that was 



"as patient as a female Dove 

 When that her golden couplets are disclosed." 



" The attachment of Pigeons to the place where they 

 have been bred is well known, and the pertinacity with 

 which they will return to their former abode, even after 

 the greatest care and pains have been bestowed on them, is 

 often most extraordinary. In one case I knew a hen to 

 fly back eight times to her old habitation, although at the 

 distance of some miles ; and this bird could be easily 

 identified, some one having drawn a slight line of scar- 

 let paint round each eye, contrasting with her white head 

 and neck. Pigeon dealers, some of whom are the great- 

 est imaginable, will take advantage of this at- 

 tachment to home ; and in one case I ascertained a bird 

 to have been sold three times over, to as many different 

 persons ! 



" Every year, exactly at the same time, viz. the be- 

 ginning of July, the whole of our Pigeon stock, and also 

 that of our neighbour, work most indefatigably at two 



