22 The Naturalist in Siluria. 



there is no comparison between the two, the wild being" 

 as much superior to the tame as a pheasant to a barn- 

 door fowl. 



The quantity of food supply derived from this source 

 is deserving of serious consideration. It is difficult, per- 

 haps impossible, to estimate the exact amount ; but from 

 the numbers of these birds brought into the market, and 

 the hundreds of thousands l>esides that go to the table 

 without ever having appeared on a pbulterer's stall, some 

 idea may be deduced of their commerbial value. And it is 

 worth remembering, that in this case the cost of produc- 

 tion is altogether disproportioned to tlie value produced, 

 compared with that of barn-door fowls, or even pigeons 

 of the domesticated kind. The Quest may do a little 

 damage at seed-time and among the summer tares and 

 peas, or, in a very severe winter, peck holes in the 

 turnips, and eat otf their tops, — but the House pigeon 

 has to be credited with the same. 



It has been said that the turnip diet renders the flesh 

 of the wild species so rancid as to be unpalatable. The 

 naturalist of Selborne first made this assertion, and it ha* 

 been repeated by other writers over and over ao^ain. I 

 have not found it correct ; and during times of frost and 

 snow I have had an excellent opportunity of testino- its 

 accuracy. Never was there better, for, by the complete 

 failure of our usual borry crop, the wild pigeons have then 

 had no other provender than turnips j and althouo-h I 

 have eaten several tha,t were shot in the vei-y act of feed- 

 ing on these vegetables, I could perceive nothing of the 

 rancidity spoken of. 



That the Quest is not the progenitor of our domestic 

 birds has been generally admitted. The very different 

 modes of their nidification is, to a certain extent, proof 



