BIOGRAPHY. 73 



was just five feet from the ground, so that pussy. could 

 jump into it, while the stone was made so smooth that no 

 rat could climb it. 



Having securely protected the starlings by their towers, 

 and the pheasants by the holly fortress and wooden dum- 

 mies — another dodge-^he had to protect his pigeons. 



He found that pigeons were stolen in great numbers, 

 and almost invariably for one purpose, namely, to supply 

 birds for pigeon-shooting matches, many of which took 

 place thirty or forty miles from the spot whence the birds 

 were stolen. Now, Waterton had a righteous indignation 

 against pigeon-shooting, and had an ingenious mode of 

 thwarting the thieves. 



Their plan was to come at night, when the pigeons were 

 all at home, and throw a net over the 'glover,' i.e. the 

 opening at the top, through which the pigeons enter and 

 leave the cote. Then if they can force an entrance into 

 the cote they do so, but even if not, they frighten the birds 

 by knocking at the walls, and so drive them into the net. 



Pigeon-houses, however, constructed like those at Walton 

 Hall, can set those nocturnal robbers at defiance. In the 

 first place, the house is so high that thieves could scarcely 

 find a ladder long enough to reach the roof, and then they 

 would need a second ladder to lay on the roof before they 

 could get at the glover. As to gaining admission by the 

 door, it is almost impossible. 



The building is in two storeys, the lower being for the 

 reception of tools, chains, and the other multifarious re- 

 quirements of a farm. The rest of the building is intended 

 for the pigeons, and can only be approached by a door 

 some twenty feet from the ground. The door, which is 

 very strong, and bound with iron, fits flush into the wall, 

 so that there is no hold for a tool, and , moreover, only one 

 man could work at a time, he having nothing but a ladder 



