PIGEONS. 



resdit win be a race of weak, pigmy birds, always ailing, and 

 not worth the food they consttme. There is really no reason 

 why you should, as any pigeon keeper wiU exchange equals of 

 the same breed with you. 



THE DOTE-HOTTSE PIGEON. 



This is the commonest of all the varieties of pigeon, and is 

 widely spread through this country, as well as in other parts 

 of Europe ajid Asia. They are often found in a state of nature, 

 haunting rocks and cliffs Hke the blue rock, and are mistaken 

 for that pigeon, but their difference in plumage and greater 

 susceptibility of domestication mark them as distinct. 



The dove-house pigeon is the sort most usually used for 

 shooting-matches, and are better known to cockney sportsmen 

 as " blue rooks," " duffers," and " rockies." They are too well 

 known, however, to require a minute description. They may 

 be taken as the standard size of pigeons generally, most of the 

 same kinds being rather larger. Their beaks are thin, dark 

 horn coloured, and dove shaped ; their eyes gravelly red ; the 

 feet smooth, scaled, and deep red coloured, though the young 

 ones have the scales of the feet of a blackish shade. The 

 general colour of their plumage is a blackish slate colour, the 

 greater wing coverts being tipped with bluish slate, so as to 

 give them the mottled aspect from which they derive their 

 name. The necks are glossed with green and purple reflections, 

 the rump slate coloured, the tail barred with black, the external 

 feather on each side has a bluish white mark on the outer web. 



They are very prolific, and will rear, if well cared for, as 

 many as eight, and even ten, broods in the year. If the young 

 are brought up by hand they can be made exceedingly tame 

 With the exception of the tumbler, no kind is capable of beina; 

 made so docile. In an untutored state, moreover, they are 

 exceedingly wild and shy, which, combined with their quickness 

 and great power of wing, causes them to be favourites with 

 pigeon-shooters. 



" Although, if much disturbed in their lodging," says a 

 modem pigeon authority, " or their abode becomes uncomfort- 

 able from some other cause, they will occasionally desert it 

 (but such occurrences are rare), these houseless pigeons fre- 

 quently join a neighbouring dovecot, where they feel more at 

 ease ; or, joined by any pigeons that may have lost their home 

 (probably some brought from a distance, and let out by some 

 inexperienced pigeon-keeper before they have become acquainted 



