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THE TAME PIGEON (Coumba livia,) 
Is well known as to the shape, but the colour varies so 
much, that it eludes the rules of classification. They pre- 
fer a gregarious life, and abide often, to the number of 
five or six thousand, in a cot purposely built for them in 
the neighbourhood of a farm-yard, with proper holes to 
nestle in. The female pigeon, through the whole species, 
lays two eggs at a time, which produce generally a male 
and a female. It is pleasing to see how eager the male is 
to sit upon the eggs, in order that his mate may rest and 
feed herself. The young ones, when hatched, require 
no food for the first three days, warmth is their only nou- 
rishment ; they are then fed from the crop of the mother ; 
who has the power of forcing up the half-digested peas 
which she has swallowed to give them to her young. The 
young ones, open-mouthed, receive this tribute of affection, 
and are thus fed three times a day. 
There are upwards of twenty varieties of the domestic 
Pigeon, and of these the carriers are the most celebrated. 
They obtain their name from being sometimes employed 
to convey letters or small packets from one place to ano- 
ther. The rapidity of their flight is very wonderful. 
Leithgow assures us that one of them will carry a letter 
from Babylon to Aleppo (which, to a man, is usually 
