DOMESTIC PIGEON. 



35 



a long period of their lives ; those that wish to 

 be more acquainted with the subject, will do well 

 to consult Willoughby's Ornithology, Moore's Co- 

 lumbarium, and divers other pamphlets on the 

 Domestic Pigeons ; also BufFon's Birds, Tem- 

 minck Histoire Naturelle generale des Pigeons, 

 &c. in which two last works they will find an ample 

 account of the management of these birds at all 

 periods. 



In the wild state, these Pigeons have two broods 

 in the year, and they lay their eggs in nests found 

 in holes of rocks or ruined towers : but in a do- 

 mestic one, they vary from three to twelve, ac- 

 cording to the state of confinement ; those that 

 are most domesticated, and are never suffered to 

 go abroad, having the latter number : they seldom 

 lay more than two eggs at a time, and generally 

 one proves a male, and the other a female bird : 

 the eggs take from fourteen to seventeen days in 

 being hatched. The Domestic Pigeons appear to 

 be kept in most parts of the civilized world : they 

 are not only esteemed a delicacy for the table, but 

 they are valued on other accounts, and their dung 

 serves as a good manure for some kinds of land ; 

 it is also useful for tanning the upper leathers of 

 shoes. 



