THE DOTES. 



THB TTTBTLE DOVE. 



The old proverb concemiiig the dog, that if yon give that 

 animal an ill name you may as well hang hun, for all the 

 chance he has of retrieving his character, is no more true than 

 that dogs and birds and even men frequently acquire fair 

 reputation, how no one particularly knows, or cares to inquire, 

 but, like sheep following the bell-wether, steadfastly uphold 

 it, and all because it is a much easier matter to lend your 

 shoulder to a thing already securely upheld, and safe from 

 falling, than to doubt its stability, and to pull and shake at it 

 with no better reward than presently to bring down on you a 

 burden you can scarce stand under. 



The Turtle Dove is an example of this, and though it is, 

 undoubtedly, a very nice little bird, and one quite worthy to 

 be made a home-pet, the-re can be httle doubt but that its 

 surpassing virtues are better known to poets than to pigeon- 

 breeders. Indeed, I am bound to say, being at the same time 

 very sorry to have to say, that, from inquiry and personal 

 observation, I am convinced that the turtle dove is no more 



4U 



