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 
