D ovecotes 
A GARDEN ATTRACTION THAT HAS ARCHITECTURAL POSSIBILITIES—HOW THE ENG¬ 
LISH AND FRENCH COMBINE A TOOL SHED AND PIGEON HOUSE TO ADVANTAGE 
by Harold Donaldson Eberlein. 
Photographs by the Author 
A MAN that refuses the 
-i- companionship of Na¬ 
ture lives only half a life. 
His scheme of existence is 
lamentably one-sided. He de¬ 
nies himself a pleasure, a 
pleasure albeit quiet and un¬ 
demonstrative but none the 
less real and enduring, that a 
feeling of sympathy and 
friendliness with all created 
things will assuredly bring 
him. 
The presence of animals 
other than human is needed 
about a country place to em¬ 
phasize and cement the rela¬ 
tionship with surrounding- 
nature and evidence outward¬ 
ly the spirit of all-embracing 
hospitality and kindness that 
ought to radiate from every 
true home. In this age of the 
omnipresent automobile, when many people in the suburbs who 
formerly kept horses no longer do so, not a few establishments 
are without trace of animal occupation—oftentimes there is not 
even a house dog. The owners do not keep a cow because the 
milkman makes his daily visit; they do not keep chickens because 
they are dirty and uninteresting and don’t lay eggs when eggs 
are most needed. We are, unfortunately, getting to depend too 
much in some respects on mechanical accessories. Happily, to 
offset this tendency, there is an awakening and spreading interest 
in bird life, and thoughtful folk are making provision by putting 
up bird houses and wren boxes to invite their tenancy. Thev lay 
but small tax upon our attention and 
their cheery presence amply repays 
the trifling care expended in making 
them comfortable. 
There is, however, another phase of 
bird life that is all too generally dis¬ 
regarded and neglected — the keeping 
of pigeons and doves on farms and 
country places. Although there is no 
design to treat here of pigeon keep¬ 
ing from a commercial point of view, 
it may be remarked that there are 
remunerative and satisfactory results 
in return for a minimum of care and 
expense of upkeep. Pigeons are seen 
about plenty of barns and stables, 
though the only thing done for them 
is to fix some sort of place where they 
can make their nests. These are 
never cleaned; water is not set for 
them, and they are not fed. They are 
left to forage and shift entirely for 
themselves and yet they flock by the 
hundred and furnish many a 
pair of succulent squabs by 
way of rental for their indif¬ 
ferent lodgings. Of course 
if one chooses to feed them 
they will take willingly what 
is thrown them and not exert 
themselves to seek elsewhere 
-— any bird of intelligence 
would do so—but it is sur¬ 
prising how much they can 
pick up if put to it. 
Under ordinary conditions 
they multiply rapidly and, in 
addition to natural rate of in¬ 
crease by breeding, the size 
of the flock is likely to grow 
by attraction. Vagrant pig¬ 
eons that may have escaped 
from shoots or have been 
driven from their accustomed 
quarters are apt to join them¬ 
selves to the flock and be¬ 
come inmates of the dovecote at their own invitation. Much 
might be written about the best varieties to keep, feeding theories 
and all the minutiae of proper handling and care to make pigeon 
keeping a business success, but as only the amateur and “land¬ 
scape’’ sides of the question are being considered at this particular 
time, all such details must be sought elsewhere and there is no 
lack of literature on the subject. Suffice it to say that it is per¬ 
fectly possible and practicable to establish and maintain a dove¬ 
cote to one’s advantage and satisfaction without engaging in 
pigeon raising with business intent. 
And now, having somewhat stated the case for keeping pigeons 
or doves, we come to the question of 
their quarters; in other words, to the 
consideration of the dovecote as an 
architectural adjunct to the country 
or suburban place or, at least, a mod¬ 
est and comfortable and not inartistic 
shelter. A dovecote may range in size 
and pretension, or lack of pretension, 
all the way from being merely a row 
of carpenter-made nests with conven¬ 
tional “pigeon-hole” openings in a 
long box-like device nailed against the 
side of a barn or stable to a separate 
structure of substantial proportions 
and architectural worth. However 
little importance may commonly at¬ 
tach to so-called minor matters of this 
sort in popular estimation, the design¬ 
ing of dovecotes, byres, kennels and 
even bird boxes is well deserving of 
the pains and attention of architects 
if the surroundings of a house are to 
be either pleasing or congruous. The 
A dovecote at St. Germain-de-Livet that is characteristic of the European 
idea of carrying good design to every detail of the estate 
This wall dovecote may be used to store garden 
implements beneath the birds’ quarters 
(20) 
