BOOK VIII. vii. 5-viii. 3 



that the whole period of fattening does not go beyond 

 the twenty-fifth day of the lunai- period. It is very im- 

 portant that all the biggest fowls should be reserved 

 for the more sumptuous feasts ; for thus a worthy 

 recompense attends one's trouble and expense. 



VIII. The same method is successfully employed to Pigeona. 

 make wood-pigeons and house-pigeons that live in 

 dovecots very plump ; there is, however, not so much 

 profit in cramming pigeons as in just rearing them ; for 

 mere possession of them is not unworthy of the atten- 

 tion of a good farmer. The feeding of this kind of 

 bird too requires less supervision in distant parts of 

 the country where they can be allowed free egress, 

 for they frequent the haunts assigned to them on the 

 tops of towers or on very lofty buildings with ever- 

 open windows through which they fly forth to seek 

 their food. Nevertheless for two or three months 2 

 in the year they welcome food from the store-house, 

 while during the other months they feed themselves 

 on seeds picked up in the fields. But in regions near 

 a city they cannot do this because they are caught 

 by the various snares of the bird-catchers. They 

 ought, then, to be shut up and fed under cover ; and 

 on the farm they should not be kept in a part of the 

 farm-house which is level with the ground or cold, 

 but a loft should be constructed for them in an elevated 

 position to face the midday sun in winter ; " and, that 3 

 we may not repeat the instructions already given, the 

 walls, as we described in speaking of the hen-house, 

 should be hollowed to form a row of sleeping-places : 

 or, if this is not convenient, pegs should be driven 

 into the walls and boards placed upon them to hold 

 lockers, in which the hens may nest, or earthenware 

 dovecots with porches in front of them through which 



3^1 



