CHAPTER ONE 



THE ROMAN 



. COLUMBARIUM 



In a book so limited in size and scope as the 

 present volume, a learned disquisition on the 

 pigeon, on its place in former ages and in many 

 lands, with an excursus on the subject of its 

 prehistoric ancestry, will hardly be expected, 

 and assuredly will not be given. We are con- 

 cerned chiefly with the dovecotes of England 

 and Scotland; and though some enthusiastic 

 owner of an ancient pigeon-house may claim 

 that it descends from Saxon times, it will 

 hardly be seriously disputed that the keeping 

 of pigeons in Great Britain, with the construc- 

 tion of dovecotes in which to house them, had 

 its beginning in, and came from, although in- 

 directly, Rome. A word or two on Roman 

 pigeon-keeping, then, will not be altogether 

 out of place; and happily our knowledge of the 

 subject has its bases soundly fixed on such re- 

 liable authorities as Pliny the Elder and Varro, 

 with some useful support from Columella. 



Pliny, after noticing the fidelity and com- 

 bativeness of the dove, reminds us that dur- 



3 



