128 
MY PET PIGEON. 
DO not think many people know what a clever bird a 
pigeon is, and how constant in its affection. When a 
pigeon pairs it is for life, and the cock bird is most 
devoted and attentive to his mate. He builds the nest, 
and if she does not like it she pulls it to pieces and he builds it 
again. Then when the time for sitting comes, the cock shares 
the burden of hatching the eggs. Of the first pair of pigeons I 
had, the cock always sat in the daytime and left his wife free to 
enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. Then when night came she 
took her place upon the nest. When the eggs are hatched, both 
birds take an equal share in feeding their young ; it is a very 
busy time, for the young birds are very voracious. Pigeons, 
unlike most birds, do not open their bills for the parents to put 
the food in, but they put their bills into the old birds’ bills, and 
then the old bird fills the young crop from the contents of its 
own crop. 
I once had a pigeon which lived to be twenty years old, and 
I do not know how many more years he might have lived had 
he not met with an accident. He was a very funny bird, and 
was master of all the pigeons : he had a great many wives, as 
his mates seemed always to come to some unfortunate end : he 
never mourned long for their loss, but used to set off almost at 
once to a neighbouring farm, where a great number of pigeons 
were kept, and remain there until he had paired, and then he 
would return home with his new wife. I do not think he was 
ever away longer than three days. It was a most curious thing 
that it did not matter how many pigeons we had, he would never 
choose one of them for his mate. To each of his wives in turn 
he seemed most devoted, sitting beside her for hours in the sun, 
pruning his feathers and kissing her. 
I once had a pet pigeon which was a marvel of tameness. 
The way I came to have it was through a quarrel of the parent 
birds, who in their struggles with each other kicked their little 
one out of the nest. It fell a distance of about six feet on to 
some stones, and as it was only a day or two old and was not in 
the least fledged, it was a wonder it was not killed. My old 
nurse found it nearly dead, as it was chilled by lying on the cold 
stones, and was also injured by the fall. She brought it to me 
and we warmed it by the fire, and as it slowly began to recover 
we determined to try and bring it up. It was a very difficult 
undertaking as the little creature was so young, and its beak so 
tender that you could not force it open without hurting it. 
The only way to bring up young pigeons if taken from the nest 
when just hatched, seems to be to let them feed out of your 
mouth. For many days I used to feed my little pet in this 
way until he was able to eat by himself. He grew into a most 
amusing quaint bird, and he had all sorts of funny little ways. 
