52 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



them enter mine. It is a lofty and a spacious 

 building ; and in one season it has furnished 

 seventy-three dozens of young pigeons. The 

 walls were made with flues, by the judicious 

 use of which we had a very early supply for 

 the table ; but, through some neglect on the 

 part of the attendant, a fire took place, 

 which threatened destruction to the sur- 

 rounding buildings. In consequence of this, 

 the flues were no longer heated, and they 

 have continued in disuse since that time. 

 Though owls, and hawks, and crows, and 

 magpies, are allowed an unmolested range in 

 the vicinity of this dovecot, still it has been 

 acknowledged to be one of the most pro- 

 ductive in the county. 



There is a peculiarity in the habits of the 

 dovecot pigeon which ought not to pass un- 

 noticed. Though this bird will often perch 

 on trees in the daytime, it has never been 

 known to roost on them during the night. 

 Neither will it pass the night in the open 

 air, except in cases of the greatest emer- 

 gency. I have an aged elm here, of gigantic 

 size, to which both the dovecot pigeon and 

 the wild ring-pigeon will frequently resort. 

 It is amusing to watch the peculiar habits of 

 these two different species of birds. They seem 

 to come to the tree solely for their own con- 

 venience, and not with any intention to 

 enjoy each other's company ; and they appear 

 to be as devoid of mutual signs of courtesy, 

 as are our own countrymen when seated in a 

 foreign diligence. lam positive that there 

 will never be a union betwixt the dovecot 

 pigeon and the ring-dove. A long series of 

 observations, which I have been enabled to 

 make, tends to convince me more and more 

 of the impossibility. 



The dovecot pigeons, like the rest of the 

 genus, are remarkable for retiring to their 

 roost at an early hour, and for leaving it 

 late in the morning : thus fulfilling only half 

 of poor Richard's maxim of 



" Early to bed, and early to rise, 



Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." 



These pigeons never lay more than two 

 eggs at one sitting. Indeed, I should be 

 most surprised were it satisfactorily proved 

 that any pigeon ever sits on three eggs. 



Nothing can surpass the attachment of 

 these birds to the cot of their choice. Pro- 

 vided you do not absolutely molest them by 

 the repeated discharge of fire-arms, they 

 can scarcely be driven from it. You may 

 unroof their habitation ; and though you 

 leave it in that dismantled state for weeks 

 together, still the pigeons will not fiDrsake 

 it. At their early hour of roosting, they 

 will approach within three or four yards of 

 the workmen, and then take shelter in the 

 holes of the roofless walls, where they 

 remain for the night. 



Much might be written by the ornitho- 

 logist on the intimacy which would exist 

 betwixt man and the feathered tribes, if man 

 would condescend to cultivate it. Were I 

 close pent up in the social chimney corner, 

 on some dismal winter's evening, with an 

 attentive Eugenius by my side, I would 

 show him the cause of shyness which exists 

 betwixt the birds and us ; and, amongst other 

 things, I would prove to him that no bird 

 ever anticipates the return of man to the 

 vicinity of its nest, by the supposed act of 

 removing its " young to new quarters." 

 The pretended discovery of this reasoning 

 quality in birds, may be just the thing to 

 raise the writer in the estimation of the 

 Americans ; but it won't go down here in 

 England. 



Our ancestors generally built their dove- 

 cots in an open field, apart from the farm- 

 yard ; fearing, probably, that the noise and 

 bustle occasioned by the rustic votaries of 

 good Mother Eleusina might interrupt the 

 process of incubation, were the dovecots 

 placed in the midst of the buildings dedi- 

 cated to husbandry. 



Birds very soon get accustomed to the 

 sounds of civilised life, be they ever so loud, 

 except those which proceed from the dis- 

 charge of a gun ; and even those, in some few 

 cases of extreme hunger, will not deter a 

 famished wild bird from approaching the 

 place where nutriment can be found. How 

 unconcernedly the daw sits on the lofty 

 steeple, while the merry chimes are going ! 

 and with what confidence the rooks will 

 attend their nests on trees in the heart of a 

 town, even on the busy market day ! The 

 report of fire-arms is terrible to birds ; and, 

 indeed, it ought never to be heard in places in 

 which you wish to encourage the presence of 

 animated* nature. Where the discharge of 

 fire-arms is strictly prohibited, you will find 

 that the shyest species of birds will soon 

 forget their wariness, and assume habits 

 which persecution prevents them from putting 

 in practice. Thus, the- cautious heron will 

 take up its abode in the immediate vicinity 

 of your mansion ; the barn-owl will hunt for 

 mice under the blazing sun of noon, even in 

 the very meadow where the hay-makers are 

 at work ; and the widgeons will mix in Con- 

 scious security with the geese, as they pluck 

 the sweet herbage on your verdant lawn ; 

 where the hares may be seen all day long, 

 now lying on their sides to enjoy the warmth 

 of the sun, and now engaged in sportive 

 ehasej unbroken-in-upon by enemies, whose 

 sole endeavor is to take their lives. 



Charles Waterton. 



[We who live in the vicinity of London, 

 can readily appreciate the force and truth of 

 Mr. Waterton's remarks about* fire-arms. 

 For the sake of preserving a few paltry peas. 



