74 BIOGRAPHY, 



as a foothold. So much for the outside of the pigeon- 

 house. 



If we wish to enter the building we must ascend to the 

 door by a ladder and unlock it. We then find ourselves 

 within a large and lofty chamber, well lighted and venti- 



lated, white^washed, and perfectly clean and neat. The 

 whole place is scraped and white-washed at least twice in 

 each year, November and February being recommended 

 for these operations. 



The interior walls are most curiously constructed. Parallel 

 rows of pigeon-holes occupy each wall, and beneath each 

 row is a ledge of brick. There are three rows of bricks 

 between the ledges, which are each one brick in width. 

 Twenty rows of nests occupy each wall. It is easy, there- 

 fore, for a man, without the aid of a ladder, to traverse the 

 whole of the building, and to examine every nest as he 

 goes along the ledges. On an average, to search three rows 

 of holes occupies an hour. Waterton mentions in his Essay 

 on the Dovecot Pigeon that this single cote furnished in 



