344 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
is the habitation destined to rear fancy pigeons, but both 
may be included under the name pigeon-house. 
\ Pigeons, and particularly the stock dove, are timid birds, 
loving liberty and tranquillity. The noise of a poultry-yard 
or frequented place disturbs them, and quickly determines 
them to foi’sake it; the frequent detonation of lire-arms, the 
simple whistling of the wind through the leaves on high trees, 
are sufficient to make them forsake it. We shall do well, 
then, to establish their residence in a place rather separate. 
This is to be understood with regard to the stock dove, for 
| the other races accustom themselves more or less easily to 
the inconveniences of a frequented place, or a yard inhabited 
i by other fowl and cattle. 
The dove-liouse ought to be placed in a dry, healthy, and 
j open place, about four or five hundred steps from any 
habitation, exposed to the east, and in a situation where the 
pigeons can enjoy the first rays of the sun. “ I have seen,” 
says Buffon, “ the pigeons from several dove-houses situated 
at the bottom of a valley leave them before sunrise to gain 
a dove-liouse on the top of a hill, and flock there in such 
numbers that the roof was entirely covered with these 
strange pigeons, for which the inhabitants were obliged to 
make room, and even sometimes to give place.” It should 
not be near any great trees or woods; because, as I have 
before said, pigeons are very fearful of the noise made by 
the rustling of the leaves, and still more so of the ambus¬ 
cade of birds of prey, or the proximity of places inhabited 
by the greatest number of their enemies. Finally, it should 
be built on an elevation, that the young pigeons may easily 
perceive it, and direct their flight to it when they would 
return after their first issuing from it. 
When once a convenient place has been chosen, as much 
as possible in a country cultivated with wheat and small corn, 
erect the dove-liouse in the middle of a piece of ground, or 
even a meadow, in whatever form we may have determined 
on, whether round or square, or any other shape. However, 
the round form is preferable, from the facility it gives us to 
visit the nests by means of a swinging ladder, the descrip¬ 
tion of which we shall give in the article entitled, “ Uten¬ 
sils of the dove-house and dovecote." We may also, 
if we feel inclined to follow the advice of Messrs. Boiste 
and Barmen tier, have a window with a close wire work, 
to which a trap-door is fixed proportionable to the size 
of the pigeon. But this method appears to have its in¬ 
conveniences ; first, it allows the cold, dampness, and hoar 
frost of winter to penetrate during the night; and then 
when the pigeons are pursued by a bird of prey, they flock 
into the dove-house altogether, where their enemy dare not 
pursue them. This they could not do, if the opening was 
only sufficiently large to admit one at a time. When the 
dove-house contains a troublesome male, he places himself 
in ambush at.this narrow door, and prevents the others from 
entering, which is always very prejudicial, because it fre¬ 
quently disarranges the regularity of incubation. “ We 
should,” add these authors, “ always keep it open, and not 
subject ourselves to open and shut it night and morning, for 
if we once happen to forget it, the pigeons could not get out; 
then the young ones for want of food, since they have none 
but what their parents seek for them in the fields, would 
infallibly droop and die.” We shall here give a diametrically 
opposite advice, for everybody knows the small voracious 
animals, such as the polecat, weasel, &e., choose the night 
for seeking their prey. In spite of all the precautions we 
may have taken to prevent the possibility of their climbing 
to the window, sooner or later profiting by some circum¬ 
stance that chance or negligence has supplied them with, 
such as a ladder, a pole, or merely a stick placed against 
the wall of the dovecote, they will penetrate into it, which 
they can do by means of a rope, and in one hour destroy 
half, or perhaps the greater part of the pigeons. It is also 
during the night that nocturnal birds of prey seek their 
food, and, as has frequently happened, they would not fail 
to enter and seize their prey. Besides, those persons who 
will not subject themselves to take care of animals, ought 
not to have any, for fear of continually seeing them become 
the victims of a thousand accidents. 
On the outside, and all round the dove-house, we fix one, 
or several, jutting cornices, from eight to ten inches, or, at 
least, from five to six, which will have the double advantage 
of serving as a walking-place for the pigeons, and of pre- 
[Atjgtjst 28. 
venting destructive animals, particularly the rats, from 
climbing the walls; which, moreover, ought to be entirely 
rough-cast with a mortar of lime and sand, very smooth and 
solid. During spring and autumn, pigeons are very fond of 
assembling together on these cornices to enjoy the rising 
sun. Besides which they serve them as resting-places, 
when, arriving in large flocks from the country, they cannot 
all at once enter the dovecote. It is, also, from these that 
the young ones first venture their flight, and gradually 
become accustomed to recognise their residence. The roof 
of the dovecote should be of slate or flat tiles, well joined, 
so as not to admit inclement weather, nor any animal, and 
especially the sparrow. These voracious and bold birds make 
great havoc in dove-liouses where they can gain an entrance; 
they never fail to take advantage of the momentary absence 
of those pigeons which have young ones, to pierce and tear 
open with their beak the crops of the little animals to eat 
the grain they contain (?). The roof should be very sloping, 
and we must be very careful not to leave any moss or dirt 
upon it which would hold the damp. The door of the dove¬ 
cote should be of solid oak; it must close perfectly every¬ 
where, so as to intercept the entrance of the smallest animal. 
This is what ought to be observed with regard to the 
exterior. We will now describe the interior. In some pigeon- 
houses we see the boxes for the nests erected against the 
walls from the ground. This appears to us a bad plan, 
because it gives the rats an opportunity of climbing easily, 
by this means, up to the highest stages, of entering all the 
nests and breaking the eggs, to eat the young ones, and 
lastly, of frightening the pigeons during the night, so as to 
induce them to desert the dove-house. 
The nest-boxes should begin about four feet and a-half at 
least from the ground, for it has been proved by experience 
that a rat can jump at one leap from three feet and a-half to 
four feet, but never higher. The first row of boxes or nests 
will be placed on stones left by the masons jutting out from 
the wall for that purpose, and the rows above will be placed 
on the first. The last row ought to be from eighteen inches 
to two feet from the timber of the roof, to guard them when 
brooding from the cold and damp, which will penetrate 
between the tiles in spite of every precaution. The boxes 
should be constructed of bricks; about eight inches high, 
nine or ten inches wide, and from ten to twelve inches deep. 
In front of every row of nests there should be a small 
jutting cornice of five or six inches wide, or at least the 
width of a brick, to assist the young pigeons, whose flight is 
uncertain, in returning conveniently to their nest, and to 
give them all a walking place, where they can collect together 
under cover, and take their pleasure in bad weather. It is 
also there that the male will watch lest his female should be 
troubled while sitting. If we find much difficulty in fixing 
these kind of little footpaths in front of every row, we may 
content ourselves with constructing three or four cornices, 
placed at certain distances as on the outside; they will serve 
as resting places to those young pigeons which may have to 
regain a nest in the upper row. In some countries, instead 
of constructing the nest of brick as we have just described, 
they content themselves with placing on a slight framework 
of wood, some pots of baked earth or plaster, of a round 
form, very much like a deep plate or wicker basket; they 
place over every nest a kind of roost or stick, exceeding five 
or six inches, on which the pigeons rest when they are 
about to enter or leave their nest. 
The first method, although better than the second, has, 
however, one very great inconvenience. ‘When the young 
pigeons begin to get large, they are very fond of changing 
their places ; but in doing so their movements are so heavy 
and awkward that they often fall from the nest. The result 
of this is that they are killed by the fall, or should they 
escape the first danger, they are sure to be destroyed by the 
others. They may also break the eggs, or knock down the 
little ones in the nests in which they fall. Besides, the 
female who does not like to be troubled during incubation, 
finds herself exposed to the attacks of other pigeons, who 
attempt to dislodge her. 
The second method has the same inconvenience as the 
first. Further, the parasitical insects with which pigeons 
are infested, such as mites and bugs, find a better nest. 
The baskets, however, are not so solid, and more expensive, 
for they must be replaced every three or four years. 
