250 



THE DOVECOT PIGEON. 



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 dove- 

 cots placed in the midst of the buildings dedicated 

 to husbandry. 



Birds very soon get accustomed to the sounds 

 of civilised life, be they ever so loud, except those 

 which proceed from the discharge of a gun ; and 

 even those, in some few cases of extreme hunger, 

 will not deter a famished wild bird from approach- 

 ing 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 pre- 

 sence 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 pre- 

 vents 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 wigeons will mix, in conscious 

 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 



