THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March 25. 
408 
nests.” It is needless to tell amateurs that in the countries 
where those fountains are to he met with, and in those 
places near the sea, we may dispense with giving them salt. 
The amateur should have some method with regard to 
feeding his pigeons. Those belonging to the dove-house 
are. endowed with the talent of discovering it themselves in 
the country, during the whole of the fine season; it would, 
I therefore, he useless to furnish them with it at that time. 
However, it is necessary to distribute some to them occa¬ 
sionally, to attach them to their home. It is also a means 
of taming them, which is very advantageous, because they 
| are less frightened when we enter their dove-house, They 
should be fed at stated hours, and be summoned by 
whistling, or calling them, and always in the same manner. 
They become so accustomed to it, that it is not unusual to 
see them come from some distance, surround the distributor, 
and even alight on his arms and head. They are very fear¬ 
ful of rain and stormy weather, and remain in their dove- I 
house, unless obliged by hunger to leave it. It is then J 
indispensably necessary to give them a sufficient quantity J 
of grain for their nutriment; if this is neglected, they will, ; 
after a few days’ fasting, enter some neighbouring dove- | 
house, where they can find food, and, it is much to be feared, 
will never return to their own. We must begin to feed them 
regularly about the end of November, a little sooner or 
later according to the climate, and continue to do so till the 
month of February at least. 
It is surprising how long a pigeon can remain without 
eating, when deprived of light. To prove this we shall here 
relate a most singular fact, told by M. Corbie, who was 
an eye-witness. An individual visited the pigeon market at 
the hall of St. Germans; he bought a young pigeon there 
that he did not consider of much value, and, as he did not 
like the trouble of carrying it in his hand, he put it into 
the pocket of his riding-coat. Different circumstances 1 
having prevented his return home until a late hour, he 
entirely forgot the unfortunate prisoner, took off his riding- 
coat, hung it on a peg, and thought no more about it during 
the whole week. The Sunday following he wanted to wear 
this garment, and on taking it down, and looking into the 
pocket, discovered the pigeon full of life and health. He 
immediately put it with the. others, and in a quarter-of-an- 
liour’s time no trace was seen of this bird’s forced absti¬ 
nence. The most surprising thing is, that darkness appears 
to enable them to sustain so long a fast; for if they are 
I deprived of food, and left in the light, they do not survive | 
more than two or three days, at most. 
The hours at which pigeons ought to be fed have been 
determined. In the morning, as soon as they leave the 
dove-house, or dovecote, we must give them the first dis¬ 
tribution ; but as the females that are setting do not leave 
their eggs till about eleven o’clock, to return again at three, 
it will be necessary to reserve some gram for them, which 
should be distributed about half after two, but never at 
twelve, because these birds are accustomed to sleep at that 
hour, and it would at least be useless to disturb them. The 
third distribution should take place very nearly an hour 
i before night. It is necessary to calculate the quantity of 
grain given them by the number of pigeons, and, above all, 
not to give them too much during the fine season, because 
abundance makes them idle, and they lose the habit of 
seeking their own subsistence in the country. During 
summer, or in dry 'weather, the grain may be thrown to 
them outside the dove-house, but as close to it as possible, 
in a place prepared for the purpose by removing from it all 
weeds and stones; during rains, and bad weather, we must 
give it them inside the dove-house, or dovecote. 
Many amateurs do not consider the quantity of food their 
birds can find in the fields, and therefore feed them abun¬ 
dantly in the dovecote; in these cases it is not necessary to 
supply them with daily distributions—it is sufficient to put 
the grain into a trough, placed in the cleanest part of their 
residence, and to fill it as soon as empty. Tins trough 
requires to be made in a particular form, for the description 
of which we shall refer our readers to the article entitled 
“ Utensils of the Dovecote.” It is the same with regard to 
the vessel in which the water is given them. Although but 
little water is given them, except in the dovecotes, we think 
that those persons who possess a dove-house in a dry and 
. barren country would do well to place there two or three 
vessels, like those described in the article “ Utensils of the 
Dovecote,” but of larger dimensions. We may, however, con¬ 
tent ourselves by placing close to the dove-house stone 
troughs, which must be filled every two or three days, taking 
the necessary precaution of keeping them very clean. We 
shall observe that they should always be kept full, to enable 
the pigeons easily to reach the water when resting on the 
edge of it. In both cases we must be very careful to break 
the ice two or three times a day during winter, and to change 
the water more frequently. If there should be in the 
neighbourhood a running stream of water which never 
freezes, this precaution would not be so necessary, but still 
it would always be useful. They not only require, water to 
satisfy their thirst, but also to keep them clean. They are 
very fond of rolling themselves in the dirt, to get rid of 
insects, with which they are frequently troubled, and after¬ 
wards they will go and bathe, if they can find a convenient 
place to do so. We must manage this for them by placing a 
tub of water near, not more than two or three inches deep. 
If they are captive, the tub must be placed in the dovecote ; 
but should they be free it may be set outside, although as 
near as possible, because when the large species have their 
feathers charged with water they have great difficulty in 
Hying to regain their pigeon-house, and the cats take ad¬ 
vantage of this moment to pounce upon them. 
(To be continued.) 
DOMESTIC PIGEONS. 
NINETEENTH RACE. 
Carrier Pigeons (Columba taheUaria ).—By a singularity 
which I cannot explain, we here find a race of pigeons the i 
most common, as well as the most ancient, and yet of which j 
no author has spoken. My reason for thinking this race so 
very ancient, and that it has always been as common as it is 
at the present day, is, that on all ancient monuments where 
Venus is represented in a chariot drawn by doves, it may i 
easily be discovered that the Carrier pigeons were taken as 
models by the painters and sculptors by whom they were 
executed. 
These pigeons are small, and have no tubercles on the 
nostrils. They have a slight red filament round the eyes, 
a whitish iris, and naked feet, except one variety. Their 
plumage partakes of all the common colours of the pigeon. 
This is the most fruitful of all the races, and shows the 
greatest attachment for the place where it is born. Deceit¬ 
ful merchants take advantage of the knowledge they have of 
this quality to speculate on these birds. When a person 
wants to purchase them, they cleverly find out whether he 
intends keeping them in confinement, or an open aviary, 
and fix the price accordingly. If they know he destines them 
to stock a dovecote, they do not mind reducing the price to 
half, because, whatever the distance may be that they are 
carried, or the care taken of them, and the time they are 
kept prisoners, they are quite sure that, as soon as they 
have their liberty, the first use they will make of it will be 
to return to their old dwelling. One of these merchants 
acknowledged to me one day, on showing me a pair, that he 
had already sold it three or four times. 
We shall advise those who intend to erect a dove-house to 
stock it with the Carriers. They fiy with rapidity, and have 
the power to escape the pursuit of birds of prey ; they go a 
great distance in search of food, and consequently do not 
cost much for grain. 
Flying Messenger Pigeon ( Columba tdbellaria volans ).— 
The colours are grey, blue, red, yellow, speckled black and 
white. There are some which have the whole body of one 
of these colours, with a white tail; others have the tail and 
flight white ; others, again, have only the large quill feathers 
of the wings white. This bird, which is interesting for its 
great fecundity, is at the present time one of the most 
common. The blue very much resemble the stock-dove, 
but still differ from it in their shape, which is longer and 
more slight, and also in their long and slender head, wdiich 
is rendered more interesting by their sharp eyes and white 
iris. They fly very light and high, and have the sagacity of 
always recognising them dove-house in the middle of the 
innumerable chimneys of the capital, where they are greatly 
multiplied. Although their dwelling be placed at the bottom 
