RARY OF CONGRESS
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BEES, PIGEONS, RABBITS,
AND
THE CANARY BIRD,
FAMILIARLY DESCRIBED:
THEIR HABITS, PROPENSITIES, AND DISPOSITIONS EXPLAINED 3
MODE OF TREATMENT IN HEALTH AND DISEASE PLAINLY
LAID DOWN; AND THE WHOLE ADAPTED AS A
TEXT-BOOK FOR THE YOUNG STUDENT.
BY PETER BOSWELL, OF GREENLAW.
WITH AN APPENDIX,
CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR THE CARE OF SEVERAL
AMERICAN SINGING-BIRDS.
NEW-YORK:
WILEY AND PUTNAM.
1842.
TO THE READER.
In rearing or breeding the Canary, the Bee, the Pi-
geon, or Rabbit, no failure can take place if attention
is paid to the regulations we have herewith record-
ed. Experience is perhaps the best school in which
practical knowledge is obtained. This was the aca-
demy in which we ourselves were taught. To ano-
ther schooi we have now endeavoured to introduce
our youthful readers, where, by leaving the theory,
we hope to have given them a light to guide them in
the gratification of their innocent and favourite
amusements.
THE AUTHOR.
Greenlaw, 1842.
J. P. Waieu?, Printer, 18 New Street, New York.
By Transfer
Dept, of Agriculture
OCT 17? 1940
O oO =
Sonoran
CONTENTS.
THE BEE.
1. Natural History of the Bee. 3 . :
2. Swarming.
3. Hives—different kinds ae orale | in use, Ke.
4. Ventilators and Thermometers,
5. Feeding Apparatus. . 5 ; .
6. Miscellaneous Management. , 5 .
THE PIGEON.
. Nature of the Pigeon. :
. Political view ofthe Pigeon. . . :
. Varieties—The Stock Dove—Wood Figcona—pare
blers—Carriers—Pouters—Horsemen—Dragoons—
Fantail—Jacobine, &c. .
. Diseases of Pigeons. . : .
. Laws in England regarding Pigeons : °
Economy of Pigeons. : : . : :
The Dove Cote.
. Matching, or Pairing and Breoting of Pigeoust °
. Food of Pigeons, ‘ ‘ ;
Uses of Pigeons. : ,
ae
em
Vill CONTENTS.
THE RABBIT.
Page
Introductory Remarks. . : : Te
. The Wild Rabbit. ; : : ° ; ‘ « SD
1
2. Common Domestic Rabbits. ‘ ‘ . Si
3. Lop-eared or Fancy Rabbit. : : : ; . 83
4, Colour of Rabbits. , : . ‘ : ‘ . 86
dD. The Rabbit Hutch. . : : 90
6. Feeding. . ; : : ‘ : : A . 95
7. Breeding. . .. : , ‘ F ‘ : « 698
8. Diseases. . ‘ ‘ e , : , i . 102
9. General Observations. P é : j ‘ . 103
THE CANARY BIRD.
1. Origin. ° . ° ° . : ; : . 109
2. Varictiess . . , . ‘ 3 ; . Peel i
3. Matching. +». . é . : : : ; a Ly
4. Pairing, . . : : ; ° ; . « 122
5. Breeding. . . . . ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ : 129
6. Mule Breeding. . ‘ . ; ; : : . 134
7. Feeding. ; ; ; : : ; : -, 130
8. Cages. : ° : : ° , , é . 140
9. Building. . . : : . ; 4 , . 143
10. Sex. : ° . . ° : : - . 144
11. Singing. . : : . : : : . . 146
12. Teaching. . . : . : ° : : . 148
13 Diseases. . : : ‘ 4 : : : . 150
APPENDIX.
American Mocking-Bird—The Robin.—Indigo Bird.—
American Yellow-Bird.—Purple Finch, or Linnet. . 161-4
THE BEE.
1. Natural History of the Bee.—Providence, that
delights in spreading beneficence as well as beauty
over all creation, has wisely formed the bee as am
humble but active and untiring agent, in gathering
up for the most important purposes, and converting
to the most valuable use, the scraps and fragments
of nature which would otherwise be scattered by the
“ viewless winds,” and spread through the “ ambient
air.” She has adorned the song of the poet, point-
ed the tale of the moralist, and furnished food to the
hungry in the desert. Virgil calls the bee a ray of
the divinity ; Plutarch pronounced her a magazine
of virtues; Quintilian asserts that she is the great-
est of geometricians; and Watts, by calling in poe-
try to the aid of morality, has rendered her figure
the means of interest, improvement, and delight to
many a youthful mind. Philosophy has stooped to
examine her habits and to watch over her haunts;
she has presented the models of science and called
forth the attention of scientific men; by her the hus-
bandman has been cheered when sitting in his cot-
tage garden, in his evening reflections on his day of
2
10 THE BEE.
toil ; and in whatever light she may be viewed, there
is none who can declare that he has no interest in
her ways.
The bee, or honey-fly, according to naturalists,
belongs to the fourth order of insects, and has four
wings—the community or hive containing three
kinds, namely, the queen, or mother-bee, the drone,
and the working-bee.
To the queen, or mother of the whole community,
itis necessary for the bee-master to give the strict-
est attention, as, without a queen, it is useless to
possess a hive, since neither can the generation of
fresh swarms proceed, nor will those which may be
present, labour, but will either emigrate, languish or
die. The queen-bee is to be distinguished from the
others by her colour and her size. Sheis larger and
more tapering in her body. She is armed witha
sting, which she, however, seldom uses energetically,
either as the sceptre of her sovereignty, or the sword
of her power. In the hive she reigns supreme, per-
mitting no rival near her throne. Since the creation
of her race, no prince-consort has to the queen-bee
been known. By infallible instinct she is followed
by the whole hive; and where she is not, none will
long remain. Her wings being shorter than those
of the other bees, she flies more slowly, and can
therefore be followed with less difficulty. Although
she has been known to live for five or six years, she
may never have occasion to use her wings all that
time.
Mr. Hutsu, a most able, practical, and comprehen-
sive writer on the subject, says:
THE BEE. 11
“The form of the Queen is wholly different from
that of other bees. Like the drones, she neither
has nor needs the triangular store cavities in her
hinder thighs: her teeth are smaller than those of
the working-bee, but larger than those of the drone,
and she has no bunches of hair or bristle near her
feet ; she is longer in her body, and more tapering
than the drone. Her belly is of a golden colour, and
the upper part of her is of a brighter hue than that
of the common bee. But the most unerring rule to
judge of the queen-bee is from the shortness of her
wings, which extend only to the third ring of her
body, whilst those of the working-bees, and more par-
ticularly those of the drones, cover almost their whole
length. ‘Thus she flies with greater difficulty than
the working-bees; however, it is mere accident, if,
in the course of her life, she should have any occa.
sion for her wings.”
By some peculiar process of impregnation she be.
comes the mother of the whole colony, laying the
eggs which are fecundated by the drones, and from
which all the rest proceed, whether they be future
queens, drones, or workers. Her fruitfulness, from
whatever cause insecto-anatomists may conceive it
to arise, almost exceeds belief; for she continues to
deposit eggs as long as a single cell remains vacant
to receive them. She might, therefore, with more
truth be styled the mother, rather than the queen of
the bees, as, at the present moment, it is the earnest
prayer of every loyal Briton that the terms in a high.
er quarter may be speedily conjoined. The queen
soon pines and dies without her subjects, and they
12 THE BEE.
immediately cease to labour when separated from
their queen. ‘To compensate for death, accident, or
incapacity, preparations are immediately made for
the formation of a new royal personage ; and at the
proper season young queens are to be found at every
stage of progress. ‘The successor is formed from the
larva of the common bee, which 1s supplied with
royal food, not in the common hexagonal cells, but
in one of a peculiar construction—an oblong sphe-
roid—and of a larger size. ‘The young princesses,
varying in number from five to six dozens, reach ma-
turity about the sixteenth day, and those of them that
are not required are thrown out of the hive. On this
subject the remarks of Mowbray are judicious, and
contain almost all that the young apiarian requires.
He says, “The cells both of the drones and the
working-bees are horizontal. The cell of the drone
is of an irregular form, that of the working or com-
mon bee a perfect hexagon. On the side of the mid-
dle combs the cell is constructed, which is destined
to receive the egg of which a young queen is to be
born. It has been discovered by the curious that
nature imparts the wonderful faculty to the queen of
foreknowing the kind of egg she is about to lay, and
of choosing the particular cell in which it ought to
be placed. Such are the discoveries or opinions of
practical Apiarians,
Should the number of labouring bees be insuffi-
cient for the purpose of constructing the necessary
cells, the queen will most probably forsake the hive,
however well supplied with provision, and will be
most ready to take this step in fine weather. All, or
THE BEE. 3
part of the stock, will follow, assisting her, it is
averred, when wearied, from being unaccustomed to
flight, by bearing her up with their legs and wings.
The old remedy to prevent this desertion, was to
place empty combs in the hive, which does not al-
ways succeed, from the disgust taken by the queen.
The preferable method is supposed to be, when there
is a hive at hand, the colony of which has died
through the season, to place over it the hive about
to be deserted. The eggs left in the borrowed hive
will thus be hatched, and a colony raised in suffi-
cient numbers. The accidental death of the queen,
or departure, will occasion the bees to forsake their
hive. Some years since, according to report, the
Rev. Dr. Dunbar, by a series of “experiments in
Scotland, ascertained that when a queen-bee is want-
ing in a hive, she may be produced from the egg of
a working-bee. In one experiment, the queen being
removed, the bees set about constructing royal cells,
and placing common Jarre in them: in seven days
two queens were formed. One of these killed the
other, and though, while in a virgin state, the sur-
viving queen was treated by the bees with no dis.
tinction whatever, she no sooner began to Jay, than
she became the object of constant solicitude and
respect by her admiring subjects, who watched, fed,
and waited upon her.
The common or working bees are the smallest in
size, and, in a good swarm, are computed to amount
to from twelve to twenty thousand in number. For
a long time the principal or queen-bee was supposed
to be a male, and was called the king, which modern
14 THE BEE.
research has discovered to be female; and by the
same means it has been proved that the working
bees are of the same gender in an undeveloped form.
The cells in which the workers’ eggs are deposited
lie in the centre of the hive: they are there first de-
posited by the queen, and are in size such as those
produced by the butterfly. They are hatched in four
or five days: for four or six days more they remain
in the larva or grub state, during which period they
are tended and fed by the nurse bees. The nymph
or pupa form is then assumed: they next wind them-
selves into a cocoon or film, and the nurse bees care-
fully enclose them with wax. The perfect bee bursts
forth from its imprisonment on the twenty-first day
from the laying of the egg. It is quickly cleaned
by its companions, and in a few hours may be seen
gathering honey “ from every opening flower” in the
garden or ficld around its hive.
“In examining the srructure of the common
working-bee,” says Buffon, “the first remarkable
part that offers is the trunk (proboscis), which
serves to extract the honey from flowers. It is not
formed like that of other flies, in the manner of a
tube, through which the fluid is to be sucked up,
but like a besom to sweep, or tongue to lick it up.
The insect is also furnished with teeth, enabling it
to work upon materials collected, the pollen and farina
of flowers, from an elaboration of which, in the sto-
mach of the bee, are to be derived both the honey
and wax. In the thighs of the hinder legs are found _
two cavities, fringed with hair, and into these, as
into a basket, the bee deposits the pellets it has col-
THE BEE. 15
lected. Thus employed, it flies from flower to flower,
increasing its stores, until the pellet or ball upon
each thigh acquires the size of a grain of pepper;
when having obtained a sufficient load, it returns
homewards, making the best way to the hive.”
The belly of the bee is divided into six rings,
which, by slipping one over the other, shorten the
dimensions of the body. Pliny held that the body
of the bee is furnished with pores, through which
the animal breathes; and to this opinion, Lisle, the
agricultural writer, has assented. The contents of
the insect’s belly, besides the common intestines, are
the honey-bag, the venom-bag, and the sting. The
honey-bag is transparent as crystal, containing the
honey which has been collected—the greater part of
which is deposited in the hive, being passed into the
cells of the honey-combs, whilst the remainder serves
for the insect’s nourishment, as, during the summer
or labouring season, it never touches the store laid
by for winter.
The sting, which serves to defend this little ani-
mal from its enemies, is composed of three parts, the
sheath and two darts, which are extremely small and
penetrating. These darts have several small points
or barbs, like those of a fish-hook, which render the
sting more painful, the darts rankling in the wound.
Still, however, the infliction from such an instru.
ment would be very slight, had not the bee power to
poison the wound. The sheath, whicn has a sharp
point, makes the first impression; the darts act
next; after which the venomous fluid is infused. The
sheath sometimes, urged perhaps by the degree of
16 THE BEE.
excitement in the insect, sticks so fast in the wound,
that it is left behind, and causes more permanent in-
flammation. The bee, in consequence, soon after
dies, from an eruption of the intestines.
It might, on first consideration, appear well for
mankind if the bee had not the power of inflicting
such wounds; but, on farther reflection, it will be
found that the little animal would have too many
rivals in sharing the profits of its Jabours. Nume-
rous other animals, fond of honey, and of obtaining
it at free cost, would intrude upon the sweets of the
hive without armed guardians for its protection.
The venom of the insects appears to be an original
material in their composition, imparted to them by
nature for defence or revenge, and not formed, like
heney, from ingredients collected externally.
Among the working bees there is a complete divi-
sion of labour—some being employed in secreting
and spreading wax, and constructing cells; others,
in warming the eggs, guarding the queen, and giving
warning of external danger; while the rest ransack
the fields, fiying from flower to flower in search of
honey or farina, loaded with which they fly home-
ward to the hive. There is great difference of opin-
ion regarding the length of life in working-bees, but
it is gene) rally believed that they are short-lived, and
that their place is speedily supplied.
[tis computed that the drones, or male bees, are
half the number of the other bees in every swarm.
They are stingless; in size, between the queen and
common bee, and may be distinguished by their loud
and peculiar hum. ‘The cells in which the eggs,
THE BEE, 17
from which they spring, are Jaid, are larger than
those of the common bees, stronger, and nearer the
side of the hive. Twenty-five or twenty-six days is
the period in which they pass through their various
stages. Their life extends from April to August or
September, at which time they are indiscriminately
massacred by the working-bees. ‘The drone is full
at the extremity or tail, which the wings cover, ex-
cepting a small angle which has a blackish ap.
pearance. Beneath are two small protuberances,
which are the supposed indications of the masculine
gender. ‘The drone is left by nature unarmed, the
organs of generation in him being found in the place
of the sting in the working-bee. ‘The antenne and
probosces of the drones are shorter than those of the
labouring bees, and their teeth smaller; nor have
they those cavities on the thighs which distinguish
the latter, their sole destined employment being the
propagation of their kind, for which they are fur-
nished with food from the common stock, towards
the collection of which they never give, nor are ex.
pected to give, any assistance.
The drone has been a much slandered creature,—
but the great Author of nature has done nothing in
vain; and it clearly appears that the drone serves a
most important purpose in the economy of the hive.
It has been supposed by some that the drones fecun.
date the eggs deposited by the queen; but this can-
not be, for the greater number of these are laid and
hatched after the drones are destroyed, and before a
new race of them are brought forth in the spring.
The truth is, the eggs are rendered productive by
18 THE BEE.
the drones before they are deposited by the queen;
and when this has been done, she remains fruitful as
long as she lives, and has no need of drones for the
only purpose they were designed to serve. Ifa hive,
according to Bonner and Huber, is forcibly deprived
of its young queen, no expulsion or destruction of
the drones takes place; the purposes of their nature
not having been yet accomplished. ‘They are re-
tained, in case of need, for the production of other
queens, whose eggs they must render fruitful. In
ventilating hives, where swarming is unnecessary, on
account of abundance of space, the young queens
themselves are expelled, followed by the destruction
of the drones at an earlier period than, in other cir-
cumstances, it would have occurred. ‘They are then
useless, and their expulsion often takes place as early
as May; but in the common swarming hives, as new
queens may still require to be fecundated, to form
the heads of new clans, the onslaught does not take
place till July or August. All this distinctly proves
that the purpose served by the drones is to render
the queen’s eggs productive. If this object is not
required, they are sacrificed, but if it is, they are
spared. ‘They are not allowed to remain a burden
on the common stock, when they can be of no far-
ther use, and the destruction of the drones may be
considered as a safe and sure indication that no far-
ther swarming is contemplated. Dr. Bevan, in his
work entitled the “Honey Bee,” observes, “ that
the number of drones may be considered as in ac.
cordance, in some degree, with the general profuse-
ness of nature; we find her abounding with super-
THE BEE. 19
numeraries in a great variety of instances, in the
blossoms of trees, and flowers, as well as in the rela-
tive number of one sex to another among animals.”
Huber conceives that it was necessary there should
be a great number of drones, that the queen might
be sure of finding one in her excursion through
the expanse of the atmosphere, and run no risk of
sterility.
2. Swarming.—In the generality of cases, swarm-
ing with bees is an act of necessity. If required, it
can easily be prevented by the enlargement or venti-
lation of the hive. A crowded population and an
increasing temperature lead the bee to seek relief by
emigration, just as we ourselves pant after the fresh
breeze when confined to the stifling atmosphere of
the theatre or the ball-room. Mr. Huber says, “ We
have frequently proved the heat of the hive by the
thermometer. In a populous hive the heat continues
of nearly one temperature, until the tumult which
precedes swarming, which increases the heat to such
a degree as to be intolerable to the bees. When ex-
posed to it, they rush impetuously towards the outlet
of the hive and depart.” Kirby and Spence say,
“Bees being confined to a given space, which they
possess not the means of enlarging,—to avoid the ill
effects of being too much crowded, when their pop-
ulation exceeds a certain limit, they must necessarily
emigrate.”
When there is a first swarm, the new colony is
generally led forth by the old queen, who leaves the
heir to her throne behind in an embryo state. In
the majority of cases an equal number of young and
20 THE BEE.
old bees, with a few hundreds of drones, form the
swarm.
Many from vanity, and some from ignorance, are
disposed to boast of the number of swarms they can
extract from each hive in the course of a single sea-
son, but this is a foolish idea, and often a fatal mis-
take. By this practice we may certainly increase
the number of hives in the Apiary, but it is at the
cost of diminishing the strength of the bees and the
quantity of their product. A first swarm may often
be led to throw off a cast even in the same year, but
it must be late in the season: consequently there
must be a deficiency in the store of winter provi-
sions: before spring they dwindle and dic. The
first swarm is weakened, the second is lost; but if
care had been taken to prevent their separation, there
would have been one strong stock for the following
vear, which in all circumstances is infinitely better
than many weak ones,
Mr. Isaac, in his useful little tract, gives the fol-
lowing definition of a few ArPraRIAN TECUNICALI TIES.
I copy them as being rather more precise than those
to which I have been generally accustomed: ‘ By
colonies, are to be understood bees in double or treble
hives. Stocks designate bees generally at the end of
the season. All bees, from the season of hiving till
its conclusion at Michaelmas, are called SWATMS ;
subsequently stocks, if in single hives; colonies, if in
double. A swarm having thrown out a swarm, be-
comes then a stock, although it may have been hived
but a few weeks. Such superabundant swarming
THE BEE. 21
in this climate is disadvantageous. Swarming gene-
rally continues between two and three weeks.”
Mr. Brown, of Renfrew, N. B., had a hive which
cast three swarms in 1807, five swarms in 1808, three
swarms in 1809, and four swarms in 1810, the parent
hive still in good strength. In 1826, Mr. E. Day, of
Coldblow farm, Hucking, took from fourteen stocks
of bees 576 Ibs. of honey.
Such examples as these, and even in favourable
circumstances they are rare, are apt to lead the
young Apiarian astray, but his great object should
be to prevent the breaking-up of his stock into frag-
ments; to keep it entire, and hold it together as
~much as possible, which will secure him against
many unforeseen contingencies, save him much anxi-
ety, trouble, and expense, while eventually it leads to
the greatest amount of profit.
Gelieu justly observes, “In the swarming season
the strong hives are almost entirely filled with brood
combs. At that time also honey becomes abundant,
and when fine days succeed each other, the work-
ing-bees amass an astonishing quantity. But where
is it to be stored? Must they wait till the young
bees have left the brood cells, by which time the
early flowers will be withered? What is to be done
in this dilemma? Mark the resources of the indus-
trious bees. ‘They search in the neighbourhood
where they may deposit their honey until the young
shall have left the combs in which they were hatched.
If they fail in this object, they crowd together in the
front of their habitation, forming prodigious clusters.
22 THE BEE.
It is not uncommon to see them building combs on
the outsides.”
By increasing their accommodation in their pre-
sent home, and lessening the temperature by venti-
lation, they would be saved all the hurry and hubbub,
the bustle and the bother of “a flitting,” two of
which are said to be to ourselyes worse than a fire,
and one to them we are assured must be as bad asa
thunder shower. Let it be avoided by all means.
They are industrious creatures, but the season of
swarming is to them an idle and uncomfortable pe-
riod. The collecting of honey, while all nature is
inviting them to the congenial task, is laid aside, and
for one plain reason—because they have no room
wherewithal to store it. -
The months of May and June are the periods of
swarming, but the precise departure of the swarm
depends in a great measure on the state of the
weather. The swarming season is the most im-
portant and anxious period of the labours of the Api-
arian, for on its successful issue depends the chief
part of his profit. It should be the aim of every
keeper of bees to make himself thoroughly acquaint-
ed with the chief symptoms of the departure of a
swarm, for his ignorance on this point will expose
him to certain loss. Circumstances may possibly
so combine as that the most experienced Apiarian
may be mistaken in his calculations, but in the ma-
jority of cases the prognostics of a swarm are so de-
cisive, that the precise period of its departure can be
definitely fixed.
The symptoms indicative of swarming are vari-
THE BEE. 23
ous. Clustering outside of the hive is not an infal-
lible sign, for unless a queen be ready, however
much they may be annoyed for want of room, they
may remain in that position for weeks. According
to Reaumur, if on any particular day there is little
egress from a hive, whence they were seen previous-
ly issuing in great numbers, it may be considered as
indubitable that the period of swarming is at hand.
The reason is obvious,—the bees, aware that they
are about to depart, consider it unnecessary to la-
bour for furnishing a habitation which they are no
longer to occupy, and therefore remain at home.
Another sign is a general hum in the evening, con-
tinued during night. On placing the ear close to
the hive, clear and sharp sounds may be distin-
guished. On the following day numbers may be
seen at the mouth of the hive uttering notes of alarm ;
and if no business seems to be going on in the inte-
rior, a young queen only requires to come forth to
be followed by a numerous retinue. But the only
remedy for the infallibility of these is to keep a strict
watch, otherwise the swarm may be completely lost,
or go to increase the stock of some distant neighbour.
When the swarming does take place, the best plan
is to leave the bees as much as possible to them-
selves; the rattling of peas and the throwing of wa-
ter being practices ‘more honoured in the breach,
than in the observance.” In this respect, in our
own experience, we have been peculiarly fortunate,
never having run any risk or been put to much trou.
ble with one of our swarms. This we attribute in
a great measure to our having followed the general
24 THE BER.
axiom now stated; and the only instances in which
we departed from it was, when by their appearing to
wheel a high flight in the air, as if bent on a distant
flight, we threw up some fine sand among the lower
strata, where the queen, from her tardiness of flight,
was most likely to be; when the whole have darted
down, and clustered in the course of an instant upon
the nearest shrub. If there are low trees or bushes
near the hive, they will choose them, and but seldom
desire a long journey. We have known, during a
succession of years,each swarm from the same stock
clustering invariably upon the same branch of the
same tree. If it can be done conveniently, the hive
for their reception—having the concave top rubbed
with a little ale and sugar—should be placed imme-
diately above them, when they will speedily begin to
ascend. A white cloth should be thrown over the
hive, and in the evening all will be found snugly
housed, their operations already commenced, and
prepared to be placed on their permanent pedestal.
This in general in our experience we have been able
to accomplish, but if it is necessary to place the hive
under the cluster, the bees must be swept into it by
a goose-wing or some other convenient instrument.
Sometimes when a swarm is hovering in the air,
it divides, and a part falls to the ground. This should
be carefully examined, for the queen may perchance
be among them. If so, she should immediately be
placed in the empty hive, and if but a few see her,
they will instantly join her, followed by the whole
host. If another swarm seems desirous to rise, it
must be promptly stopped, as they would be apt to
THE BEE. 25
join, and if one of the queens is not quickly slain
in battle, a war of uncompromising extermination
would take place between the rival clans.
3. Hives.—Bees are of themselves in a state of na-
ture at no loss in procuring a suitable residence. They
collect their stores in the fissures of rocks and in the
hollows of decayed trees. The climate, the locality,
and the taste of the proprietor, must modify the
nature of their habitation in a domesticated state.
Bees have a wondertul facility, founded on the saga-
city of their nature, in adapting their works to the
form of their dwelling, although it has been posi-
tively affirmed by Gelieu that they form more honey
in a shallow vessel than in a very deep one, but on
this point we cannot decide.
In the purchase of stocks, the following essential
points should be attended to, without a knowledge of
which the young Apiarian will find himself deceived
at the very moment when his expectations of ulti-
mate success are raised to the highest pitch. It is
With a bee-hive as: with a wife, never take one on
the recommendation of another person, but be your
own judge of its merits and defects. If it be your
intention to purchase a stock, repair to the garden
in which it stands, about the middle of the day, and,
placing yourself before it, pay particular attention
to the action of the bees. If you observe them
crowding in and out of the hive, and a considerable
number of them having little yellow pellets or balls
on their hinder legs, a very favourable opinion may
be formed of the health and condition of the interior,
and especially of the prolific state of the queen. If
3
26 THE BEE.
the examination take place previously to the swarm.
ing season, pay particular attention to the number
of drones: this is an infallible criterion of the popu.
lousness of the hive, and the purchaser may the
confidently look forward to the possession of t
usual swarms.
If, on the other hand, the examination take otal
in the autumn, the previous massacre of the dro
must be ascertained; the omission of this act on & »
part of the bees, is a certain sign of some radi™
defect, most probably on the part of the queen, =
the prospect of the bees surviving the wintaam
comes thereby highly problematical. If the
appear irascible and bold in their attacks on rt
enemies, particularly the wasp, it 1s a good sign!
their condition if on their return .rom the fi?”
their bodies appear cylindrical. it is certain pre
that the bees are ousy in the collection of honey, a*
consequently a good estimate may oe :ormed of the
interior richness of the hive. In regard to the exte.
rior of the hive, on no account select one which ig
old and decayed, as such hives are always infested
with vermin. No prudent apiarian will ever put a.
swarm into an old hive, and in this respect 1t must
be admitted that in a great degree the most culpable
carelessness exists on the part of cottagers, who, per-
haps, from a principle of false economy, put their
swarms into old and rotten hives rather than be at
the expense of purchasing new ones.
Hives either stand in a bee-house, box, or shed, or
under a thatched or other kind of roof. The stanp
on which the hive is placed should always be kept
THE BEE. 27
clean, particularly so in the spring, at the com.
mencement of the working season. If it be at times
sprinkled with a little salt, it will be very conducive
to the health of the bees. In short, all impurities
should be removed from within and without the hive,
‘n order to save the cleanly insects the unprofitable
_abour of the removal of nuisances.
The hives‘ most generally used in England, and
which are recommended by Cobbet as the best, are
nade of straw, of a bell-shape, but with no arrange-
ment for ventilation or enlargement. Among cotta-
vers, on account of their cheapness, these hives still
-ammand a preference, notwithstanding the more
,proved form and material introduced in modern
mes. Undressed rye straw serves best for their
onstruction: they should be about thirteen inches
ide at the bottom, and about nine at the top, and it
would be an improvement to have them somewhat
thicker than they are generally made at present. It
is customary to pass sticks through them at right
angles for the purpose of supporting the combs, but
as these rather obstruct the bees in their operations,
the end would be better gained by making the lower
part narrower. This could be easily managed by
making the base of the hive a stout wooden hoop, to
which the lower circumference might be fitted, al-
lowing the hive to bulge out as it approached the
top. This is recommended by Dr. Bevan, who says,
that this hoop should be perforated through its whole
course in an oblique direction, “the perforations so
distant from each other as to cause all the stitches
of the hive to range in a uniform manner,” and thus
\
28 THE BEE.
to be wrought into the lower band. The hoop makes
the hive more durable, more steady, and more easily
moved. A circular piece of wood, about three inch-
es in diameter, with an inch hole in the centre,
should be wrought into the crown. Through this
opening the bees may be fed more advantageously
than at the entrance, and it can be so far servicea-
bie for ventilating the hive. When not required for
either of these purposes, it can easily be plugged up,
or covered with a bit of tin. Straw hives are often
covered with an earthen pan; in Scotland a mere
sod or thatch of straw is often used, which can nel-
ther be said to be tidy nor tasteful, and, eke, dirty
and dangerous. At all events, the covering, what-
ever it is, should always shape outwards, to carry
off all moisture, against which too much precaution
cannot be used; and of whatever materials the hives
may be composed, they should be well painted at
first, and at regular intervals afterwards, “for,” as
Mr. Payne says, “hives managed on the depriving
system are expected to last from 15 to 20 years.”
Wooden hives or boxes are now almost invariably
employed by the best bee cultivators, for, however
those of straw may form a ready resource to the cot-
tager, wooden ones are not only cheaper in the end
from their greater durability, but more profitable at
first from their square form, affording greater facili-
ties for the more economical arrangement of the
combs. The boxes may be made of any wood if it
is dry, well seasoned, well joined, and not resinous.
The size must depend on the number of bees it is to
contain, and that depends much upon the honey-pas-
THE BEE. 29
turage of the district. Ten or twelve inches square,
and an inch thick, are the fair dimensions. The top
should project about an inch, both for ornament and
utility,—also a hole at the top for feeding, and of
size sufficient to insert a bell-glass, with one at the
top for ventilation. There may be a window, both
in front and behind, for the purpose of inspection,
which ought to be furnished with zinc shutters, to
slide closely up and down in a groove. Hives of
this kind require to be placed under a cover or shed,
to protect them from the rain and the heat of the sun.
When a number of hives are kept, they may be
placed on shelves in a row, one over the other, and
thus one* roof may be made to cover nine as easily
as three, and twelve as easily as four. This may
be distinctly understood by the annexed figure.
| ji
MUR
NRC
_ posite to the entrance of each of the hives, with an
-alighting board. The back is enclosed with folding
doors, on opening which the hives can either he in-
30 THE BER.
spected or removed. The whole should be carefully
painted, and rendered wind and water tight. Should
the apiary be extensive, and the hives stand in dou-
ble rows, Mr. Huish advises the chequered form:
C.0n 07 O20 0
0 0 0 0 0
In which mode the flight of the bees in the hinder
row will not be obstructed by the front hives. A
bee taking flight from the hive generally forms a con-
siderable angle with the horizon in his ascent; and
should the hive stand at too great a degree of eleva-
tion, the advantage would enable the swarm to take
so extensive a flight, that they might be totally lost.
But if the site be not sufficiently extensive to admit
of the hives being placed in a right line, it is prefera-
ble to set them one over another in double rows.
The pedestal or stool should have but a single leg or
support, and its top, on which the hive is to stand,
should be made of seasoned and substantial wood,
which will not warp, and which should be firmly
nailed to the post, in a slanting direction, in order
that the rain may run off, all stagnant moisture being
highly inimical to bees.
The floor-board on which the hives stand should
literally be of wood, and not of stone, or any cold
material, for obvious reasons. ‘There must be a
separate board for every hive. The weight of each
hive and board should be marked on them before use.
The entrance is generally cut out of the bottom of
the hive, but it should rather be scooped from the
surface of the board, gradually sloping upward into
the hive. It ought to be made wide, as it can
THE BEE. 31
be contracted at any time. But a better method
still is a double board, with a space in front be-
tween, and through the upper part of which a hole
for entrance is cut altogether within the hive.
The hive should never be cemented to the board
with mortar or clay. The bees themselves furnish
the best cement: all others only serve to hasten the
decay of the hive, and to breed vermin.
Hives may be enlarged in a variety of ways; by
storifying, by collateral hives; by made hives, and
these in multifarious modes, which we would rather
trust to the practical ingenuity of our readers than
minutely describe ; ; but those who wish details, will
find them amply in Huish, Nutt, Bagster, Taylor,
and Jardine.
4. Ventilators and Thermometer. ha
The ventilators used, and so well ms
described by 'Taylorin The Bee-
Keeper’s Manual, consist of dou-
ble tin or zinc tubes, both resting
in the holes prepared for them on
a flask orrim. ‘The centre tube
is of one inch diameter and six
inches long, with six half-inch
holes dispersed over it. It is soon
fixed down by the bees, and so
must remain. The inner tube is of perforated zinc,
with a tin projecting top as a handle, and a cap to
put on or off this as required. The bees will stop
up the inner tube when they can get at it, when it
may be turned round a little to present a new sur.
face. When wholly stopped, it may be withdrawn
32 THE BEE.
from its place, and a new tube substituted. This
may be done without the least danger to the opera.
tor; but it should be inserted carefully, to avoid
crushing any bees that may have crept within the
outer tube. An exit for these is afforded by a hole
at the bottom. The tube that has thus been re-
moved may be cleansed by the aid of hot water.
“In order occasionally to know the temperature
of any of the boxes, a thermometer made to fit the
ventilator may occasionally be inserted in it. ‘This
will at all times give facility for making accurate
observations, but it is more particularly useful as a
matter of precaution toward the swarming season.”
An experienced apiarian, and in certain seasons,
may perhaps be able to dispense with the use of the
ventilator and thermometer, and by some they are
denounced as an unwieldly and unnecessary appara-
tus, serving no important purpose in the economy of
the hive. On the inexperienced, however, it cannot
be too strongly impressed how important a stepping-
stone they form in his progress to ultimate suc.
cess—how much success and security by means of
them he is able to attain—how many mistakes to
avoid, and knowledge to acquire—while even with-
out them the most skilful will never be able to pro-
ceed with the same degree of certainty, especially
in that important step, the prevention of swarming ;
nor will bees ever work so well in a heated atmos.
phere as with a moderate and equable temperature.
A cool store-room also contributes most essentially
to the purity of the honey and the whiteness of the
eomb. ‘The expense of the ventilators being so tri-
THE BEE. 33
fling, ought to form no barrier in the way of their
introduction into every hive. It has been errone-
ously supposed and illogically argued that bees have
an antipathy to ventilation, because they so carefully
close up every hole through which air can be admit-
ted, especially in the hottest weather, when a fresh
supply would be most acceptable; but the truth is,
they are equally careful in shutting up every cre-
vice, whether there is any circulation through it or
not. This argument, therefore, falls to the ground,
and we say to every bee-holder, employ the ventila-
tor and thermometer with all convenient speed.
5. Feeding Apparatus.—Too little attention is in
general paid to the feeding of bees, on which account
many a fine hive has been impoverished by its ne-
glect, or destroyed by its injudicious application. Ac.
cording to the common process it is always a trou-
blesome and frequently a dangerous operation; bat
by a certain apparatus it can be rendered equally
simple and safe. ‘The bees by means of it are fed
at the top instead of the bottom of the hive. In this
way, then, they may be fed in any quantity and at
any time, with more convenience to themselves and
no risk to the feeder. According to the description
of Mr. Taylor, “it consists of a tin or zine pan,
twelve inches by seven inches on the outside, and
one inch and a quarter deep, made very flat at the
bottom. A partition runs the length of one side of
the pan, leaving the space of an inch wide, into
which the food is poured, a passage for this being
left all along under the partition an eighth of an
inch high. It thus finds its way into the centre,
34 THE BER.
where there is a thin perforated wooden bottom, a
little raised underneath, and which floats on the
food. The bees enter the pan through two holes
corresponding in position with those on the top of
the hive, and round the holes are rims half an inch
high. A square of glass forms a cover, by means of
which the bees may be seen without danger.”
A wooden cover should be made to fit over the
pans to prevent the access of robbers, and it ought
to be high enough to receive the bell-glass, or glass-
es; for these are at all times best covered. An ade
ditional advantage of pans on this construction will
be seen in winter, for the vapour caused by the mois-
ture is condensed in the bells and carried away. As
the exhalation rises from the bees below, it is con-
densed on the glass, and received in considerable
quantities into the pan. In the absence of a bell-
glass, the glass cover or lid to the pan may be kept
in its place as a substitute, and on it a large quan.
tity of vapour will be condensed.
6. Miscellaneous Management.—A great deal de-
pends upon the position of the hive. [t should have’
a south or south-eastern aspect, sheltered from the
wind, and not in the neighbourhood of ponds or
rivers, which form a watery grave to many a bur.
dened busy bee.
In the vicinity of the hive there should be planted
in large quantities crocus, single blue hepaticus,
helleborus niger, and tussalago petasites, all of which
flower early, and are rich in honey and farina. But
the most cultivated districts are not to be compared
with wild heaths, woods, and commons, or any
THE BER. 35
place where white clover, saintfain, buckwheat, mus-
tard, coleseed, &c. prevail.
A swarm should be selected early, if possible in
May, for stocking a hive, which should be imme-
diately placed in the position where it is intended
to remain. The greater the mass of bees kept in
one hive the better-—five swarms combined not con-
suming more food than two. This to some appears
strange, but it is not the Jess true, and can be easily
accounted for. For the best method of uniting
swarms, especially in collateral hives, see Taylor’s
Bee-Keeper’s Manual. ‘ War to the knife,” should
be declared against all wasps, moths, earwigs, ants,
spiders, and cobwehs. Weak hives are often at-
tacked and destroyed by strange bees, against which
the best and perhaps the only security is numbers.
“Union is strength.” In proportion to the wealth
of the colony, is the desire and the power of the bees
to defend it.
“In doubling the population,” says Gelieu, “I na.
turally conceived that we must also double the quan-
tity of food, for I had always seen that two or three
families living together used more meat than each
would have done singly, however rigid their economy.
The more mouths the more meat, thought I, and in
consequence | augmented greatly the amount of pro-
visiors the first time I doubled a hive, but to my
great astonishment, when I weighed it again in the
spring, | found that the united swarms had not con-
sumed more than each would have done singly. I
could not believe my eyes, but thought there must
be some mistake; nor could [ be convinced until I
36 THE BEER.
had repeated the experiment a hundred times over,
and had always the same result. After this discove-
ry I varied my experiments, not only to convince my-
self of the fact, but if possible to arrive at still more
extended results. I joined three hives in the autumn,
by introducing into the middle one the bees of two
neighbouring hives, and I found on weighing it in
the spring that its inhabitants had scarcely weighed
one pound more than those of hives that had not been
united. [I went further: having a large, well-stocked,
and amply-provided hive, I added to it in the au-
tumn, without displacing it, the swarms of four neigh-
bouring hives, two on the right hand and two on the
left, which were so scarce of provisions, that the
quantity of honey that would have been necessary to
kecp them alive, would have far exceeded their value,
and that all four would to a certainty have perished.
This enormous population produced a heat so great,
that during the whole of a very severe winter the
bees kept up a buzzing noise, equal to that ofa strong
and active hive in the evening of a fine day in spring.
The hive was left out all the winter, and would in-
fallibly have perished had I shut it up. What was
my astonishment on weighing it in the spring to find,
that. notwithstanding it contained five fami'ies, the
total diminution did not exceed what took place in
my ordinary hives! It gave out excellent swarms
long before any of the others, and recompensed me
well for my pains.”
This seeming anomaly is simply explained from
the circumstance, that in a thinly-populated hive al.
most the whole of the bees are required at this tinge
THE BEE. 3 |
to feed and warm their young, and consequently lit-
tle or nothing is added to the continually decreasing
stock of honey and farina. When the stock is large,
a great proportion can be spared to go abroad in
search of food for the rising generation.
Bees individually are short-lived, but as a com-
munity they may be said to be immortal. Lord
Brougham, in his “ Dissertations on subjects of Sci-
ence connected with Natural Theology,” and whose
minute details on scientific subjects make one won-
der that he should be at the same time a classical
scholar, an expert rhetorician, and an ingenious, if
not a profound lawyer, says, “ The attention which
has been paid at various times to the structure and
habits of the bee, is one of the most remarkable cir-
cumstances in the history of science. The ancients
studied it with unusual minuteness, although being,
generally speaking, indifferent observers of facts,
they made but little progress in discovering the eco-
nomy of this insect. Of the observations of Aristo.
machus, who spent sixty years, it is said, in the
study of the subject, we know nothing; nor of those
that were made by Philissus, who passed his life in
the woods for the purpose of examining this insect’s
habits ; but Pliny informs us that both of them wrote
works uponit. Aristotle’s three chapters on bees
and wasps contain little more than the ordinary ob-
servations, mixed up with an unusual portion of vul-
gar and even gross errors. How much he attended
to the subject is, however, manifest from the extent
of the first of these chapters, which is of great
length. Some mathematical writers studied the
38 THE BEE.
form of the cells, and established one or two of the
fundamental propositions respecting the economy of
labour and wax, resulting from the plan of the
structure. The application of modern naturalists
to the inquiry, is to be dated from the beginning of
the eighteenth century, when Maraldi examined it
with his accustomed care, and Reaumur afterwards,
as we have seen, carried his investigations much far-
ther. The interest of the subject seemed to increase
with the progress made in these inquiries, and about
the year 1765 a Society was formed at Little Baut-
zen, in Upper Lusatia, whose sole object was the
study of bees. It was formed under the patronage
of the Elector of Saxony. The celebrated Schirach
was one of its original members, and soon after its
establishment he made his famous discovery of the
power which the bees have to supply the loss of their
Queen, by forming a large cell out of three common
ones, and feeding the grub of a worker upon royal
jelly ; a discovery so startling to naturalists, that
Bonnet, in 1769, earnestly urged the Society not to
lower its credit by countenancing such a wild error,
which he regarded as repugnant to all we know of
the habits of insects,—admitting, however, that he
should not be so incredulous of any observations
tending to prove the propagation of the race of the
Queen bee without any co-operation of a male, a no-
tion since shown by Huber to be wholly chimerical.
In 1771, a second institution under the Elector Pala.
tine’s patronage, with the same limited object, but
founded at Lauter, and of which Rien, scarcely less
THE BEE. 39
known in this branch of science than Schirach, was
a@ member.
“The greatest progress, however, was afterwards
made by Huber, whose discoveries, especially of the
Queen Bee’s mode of impregnation, the slaughter of
the drones or males, and the mode of working, have
justly gained him a very high place among natural-
ists. Nor are his discoveries of the secretion of
wax from saccharine matter, the nature of propolis
and the nature of wax for building, to be reckoned
less important. For these truths the way had been
led by John Hunter, whose vigorous and original
genius never was directed to the cultivation of any
subject without reaping a harvest of discovery.
Since the time of Hunter and Huber no progress
has been made in this branch of knowledge.” ‘The-
oretically, Lord Brougham and Vaux is in all this,
and especially in his last statement, correct; but
after the perusal of our petty, but pretty work, it
is hoped that he will be found altogether practically
wrong, by the spread and improvement of bee-culture
here and there and every where.
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THE PIGEON.
1. Nature of the Pigeon.—The pigeon can be
easily naturalized in every climate, with the ex.
ception of the frigid zones. ‘Towards the two poles
it is seldom to be found, and never thrives or pro-
pagates, while it is prosperous in temperate regions
—the burning sun of the tropics rather improving
than impairing its natural constitution ; but the wild
pigeons of cold countries always emigrate towards
the south on the approach of winter.
In a civilized and improved condition, they ap-
pear, of all the feathered tribes, more subject to the
process of amelioration, than when in a state of
nature. ‘The superiority of the one to the other, is
evidenced by the fact, that in the natural state they
are difficult to be caught, and few in numbers, but
when domesticated, and brought up under the fos-
tering hand of man, they increase in endless varieties
of plumage and of form.
As emblematical of beauty, and mnocence, they
have always ranked among the feathered favourites
of mankind ; in eastern countries, they are regarded
not only as objects of religious superstition, but held
=
42 THE PIGRON.
in veneration, as the harbingers, or the emblems, of
peace and love.
II. Political view of the Pigeon.—A question has
been raised regarding the national profit, or loss,
which might arise from encouraging an extensive
breed of Pigeons. On this point, both agriculturists,
men of science, and amateurs, have differed in
opinion, but it will be found, that no respectable
antagonist to their partial propagation has ap-
peared. We must confess, however, that Mr. Du-
harnel, the apologist for the Dove tribes, has not
been a very successful advocate. He avers, that
pigeons do not feed upon green corn—that their
bills have not sufficient power to dig for seeds in the
earth, and that they only pick up scattered grains,
which would else be wasted, or become the prey of
other birds. From the season of the corn appearing, he
says, pigeons subsist principally upon the seeds of
weeds, the multiplication and spread of which they
must, in consequence, greatly prevent.
Another writer has of late introduced a story of
the farmers in a certain district in England, who,
finding their corn and pulse crops greatly reduced,
attributed it to the vast quantity of pigeons kept
among them, which, on this account, by a general —
resolution, they agreed to destroy. A few seasons
afterwards, it seems they found their lands so ex-
hausted, and their crops so overrun with weeds, that
they came to a general wish for their pigeons back
again. “Now,” says Mowbray, “ thisis either a lame
story, or the farmers implicated were very lame far-
mers, if they did not know how to weed their land,
_—
THE PIGEON. 43
without the assistance of agents the use of which
must cost them so considerable a part of their crops.”
Last year, a farmer in Kent shot a wood-pigeon,
from the crop of which he extracted nine hun-
dred and twenty-six clavels of wheat, which he
sowed, and obtained from them a harvest of one
gallon three quarts of wheat. Every man, in the
least acquainted with country affairs, is aware of
the immense damage done to the crops of corn,
beans, peas, and tares, by pigeons. A sufficient
proof of this may be found in the reduction of the
number of dove-cots throughout all countries where
agriculture is best known, valued, and practised.
Every one will judge for himself of the degree of
credit due to the following statement, extracted
from Mr. Vancouver’s valuable survey of the county
of Devon:
“Pigeons often fly to a great distance for their
food, and when they can find corn to eat, seldom
prey upon anything else. They begin to eat corn
about the middle of July, and rarely want the same
food, all the stacks in the straw-yards, or in the
fields, until the end of barley sowing, which is about
old May-day, and which includes a period of two
hundred and eighty days, or better than three quar-
ters of the year, being during that period laid under
contribution; living the rest of the time upon the
seeds of weeds and bentings. Itissomewhere stated,
that in England and in Wales there are twenty
thousand dove-heuses, averaging each at about one
hundred pair of old pigeons. Taking this estimation
at three-fourths, it will equal one million one hun-
44 THE PIGEON.
dred and twenty-five pair of dove-house pigeons, in
England and Wales. These will consume, with
what they carry home to their young, one pint of
corn per pair daily, and for one hundred and forty
days, being half the period during which they
are supposed to subsist upon corn, amounts to one
hundred and fifty-seven millions five hundred thou-
sand pints of corn, consumed annually throughout
England and Wales by pigeons.”” In Scotland, the
mania for rearing immense flocks of pigeons is now
nearly extinct. ‘They seem to have been kept in the
capacity, and to have performed the duty of the
gleaners, of former days. No costly cote built for
their accommodation, is now almost any where to be
seen, except some lonely moss-o’ergrown fabric,
venerable for its age, and perhaps valuable to the
antiquary, but affording accommodation to no living
creature except the owl, the sparrow, and the bat,
and destined ere long to crumble into irremediable
ruins. ‘This is as it should be; for although pigeons
are always beautiful they are only valuable in their
proper place. They can easily be kept in sufficient
numbers, and propagated to a sufficient extent, with-
out all this cumbrous machinery; but many of our
ancestors, and even some antiquated proprietors of
the present day, seemed to have imagined that the
staff of life was pigeon-pie, and that it should form
the daily food of mankind. But all this is fast, and
for ever, passing away. In towns they can do no
harm, except to the purse of the proprietor, who
must furnish the principal part of their food. And
they must be considered valuable, either in town or
THE PIGEON. 45
country, as they can pick up from the street or the
road many a precious pile of grain, which would be
otherwise irretrievably lost. Keeping immense
flocks, is the only evil.
On a general view of the subject, it appears that
the dove-house system has ever been, in many
cases, one of extreme injustice, as well as impolicy,
in point of national advantage; since great flocks
may be maintained at the expense of persons having
no property in them, and to whom they afford no pro-
fit. But as neither the public nor individuals will
consent to be deprived of the enjoyment of this
ancient luxury, the fairest mode appears to be the reg-
ular feeding of pigeons, by their proprietors, which in
almost every instance so attaches them to home, that
there is often, not only a necessity of driving them
out for exercise, but the prevention of loss from
their not straying. This plan should, of course, be
more punctually observed in seed time, and towards
the approach of the corn crops to maturity, but after
reaping, it may of course in some measure be dis-
pensed with.
3. Varieties of the Pigeon.—Buffon, in his enu-
meration, mentions upwards of thirty varieties;
_ which, according to his usual systematical method,
is probably more remarkable for convenience than
for accuracy, but which he traces to one common
origin: the Stock Dove, or common wild pigeon,
(Columba anas.)
The varieties of colour and form which we witness
he attributes to human contrivance and fancy.
There exist, nevertheless, essential specific differences
46 THE PIGEON.
in these birds, which seem rather attributable to the
nature of the region, soil, or climate, to which they
are indigenous, than to the art of man.
Respecting the origin of the different species of
the pigeon, (and of no one kind are there so many
varieties known to us,) another opinion prevails;
some naturalists deriving it from the rock pigeon,
(Columba Linia.) I certainly incline towards the
latter opinion, as the habits of the Rock Dove are
closely allied to those of the dove-house pigeon, and
a cross between the Dragoon and Rock Dove may be
effected, while 1 believe the young of the Stock Dove
has never yet been subjected to the confinement of
the loft.
The Stock Dove, or original of the pigeon genus,
according to Buffon, in its natural or wild state, is
thus described ; “ with a fine neck of a‘reddish gold
colour, its wings marked with two black bars, one
on the quill feathers, and the other on the covert ;
the back white, and the tail barred near the end with
black.” The Ring Dove is yet held by naturalists
to be distinct from the Stock Dove, and it would seem
that the Turtle Dove is equally so from both. In this
country the Blue Dove (house pigeon) is the most
common, and the only species of these are the Ring
Doves, or wood pigeons, and the Turtle Doves,)
which are to be found in all parts of Southern
Britain, breeding during the spring and summer, and
retiring to the deepest recesses of the woods in the
winter season, whence, probably, the Turtle has been
supposed to emigrate. I am assured by a Spanish
THE PIGEON. 47
gentleman, that in Barbary they have pigeons equal
in size to fowls, but incapable of flight.
Throughout the woods and plantations on the do-
main of Warwick Castle, the Turtle Dove abounds
in multitudes, flying in pairs, and lighting on the
turrets of the castle. ‘Their loud and mournful
cooing is heard on the road at a considerable dis.
tance. Much pains have been taken, hitherto in-
effectually, to reduce their numbers.
The autumnal markets in the metropolis, and in
most large towns, generally exhibit a large supply of
Wood Pigeons. ‘They assemble in large flocks, and
take refuge during night in thick coverts, perching
on the middle branches and top of the oak tree.
As to the sport of shooting wood pigeons, the wintry
and boisterous evenings in November are the most
appropriate, when they are to be found roosting with
their faces to windward, and the sportsman, generally
approaching behind them, hidden by the lower
foliage, and aided also from its rustling, obtains a
fair chance of success, though the Ring Dove is par-
ticularly shy and watchful. This is a sport by which
any one, taking his stand in the twilight, may
shoot the birds sitting or flying, and, without much
exertion, soon have his bags well filled.
The flesh of the wood-pigeon is in perfection
about the end of Summer and during Autumn, from
their ability in those seasons to procure the most
fattening food. While in winter, feeding on cole-
warts or any green food they can find, makes their
flesh loose and bitter, but their large size would be
48 THE PIGEON.
increased by domestication, and the experiment must
be successful. At Pamber House, Herts, according
to Mowbray, there had been, immemorially, an annual
nest of wood.pigeons in a large yew-tree, said to be
three centuries old, which grew in the garden with-
in a few yards of the house. We seldom saw the
old birds, as they used the utmost vigilance. ‘They
are well supplied with them from the neighbouring
forest. In 1827, immense flocks of wood-pigeons,
to the computed number of two thousand in one field,
were seen upon the lands near Chichester. Sir H.
Fisher’s keeper killed sixty couple in one day.
Both in the ancient and modern world this beauti-
ful and variegated genus of birds has been cherished
by man as a source of amusement and gratification
to the eye, as well as profit, in the article of provi-
sion for the table. Besides, it was reckoned by cer-
tain nations of antiquity unlawful to deprive them
of life. The useful.qualification of Messenger, ap-
pertaining to the Asiatic and African species of the
pigeon, is of great antiquity : and we read, in the
time of the Crusades, of an Arabian prince who had
a sort of telegraphic communication kept up in his
dominions through the medium of pigeons, that
carried letters, and were regularly relieved at ap-
pointed posts. From these, doubtless, the breed
celebrated in Europe under the name of the Carrier
has proceeded. In modern times, those varieties
which are kept for the purpose of amusement and
show, are styled Fancy Breeds, and they form a dis-
tinct article of commerce in cities and great towns,
the varieties, as they chance to be in fashion, bring.
THE PIGEON. 49
ing a considerable price. From the earliest times
the pigeon fanciers of London have had a club, in
which premiums are awarded, and the notable science
of the fancy, through the method of crossing colours
and forms, is promoted and perpetuated. ‘The chief
objects of the fancy have hitherto been those vari-
eties styled Almond (probably ermine,) Tumblers,
Carriers, and the birds with great crops, the most
fashionable variety of which is the Pouting Horse-
man. ‘The specific merits of these breeds are indi-
cated by their names. The tumbler exercises his
faculty in the air, but is chiefly valued for his peculiar
form and variegated plumage. The Carrier, as a
messenger, cuts the air with almost inconceivable
swiftness. ‘This is the columba tabellaria, the famous
carrier, or messenger, between Aleppo and Alexan-
dria in Egypt. The Pouter extends his crop to a
size attractive to curiosity, and by his grotesque
attitudes and familiarity with man, engages his at.
tention. Half a century since, the pigeon Fancy
was in higher estimation than at present, then: the
almond tumbler was in its greatest vogue; sums to
the amount of twenty or thirty guineas each being
the general price of superior cocks of that breed,
such as in the present time would not bring more
than five. ‘The pigeon shops invariably appear the
abode of poverty and wretchedness, and the poor un-
fortunate birds, crammed into baskets and narrow
coops, obviously partake of the calamity in the
fullest measure. This fancy is much indulged in
with certain of the lower classes, in the metropolis,
and it is to be regretted that so much of their time is
50 THE PIGEON.
spent in the practice of entrapping stray pigeons and
leading the fanciers from honest industry to loose
and irregular habits.
It would be useless to assign a reason why one
particular breed out of so many species should alone
possess the peculiar knowledge and instinct of the
carrier. We must content ourselves without diving
too far into the hidden mysteries of nature, and as-
cribe that wonderful facility to the same Power
that guides the swallow and other birds of passage
across the waters of the Atlantic to our shores, or
conducts them, each succeeding spring, to the same
spot where for previous seasons they have reared
their young.
Tumblers by their flight are a source of great en-
joyment to the fanciers, for in addition to their
tumbling they will rise to so great a height in the
air as to appear like a speck, or become altogether
imperceptible. If of a good kind, and well famili-
arized to one another, they will in their flight keep
in so close company that a dozen of them may be
covered with a handkerchief. If the weather be fine
and clear, they will keep upon the wing for four or
five hours at a time, the favourite set seldom or never
tumbling except when about to rise, or when coming
down to pitch.
Tumblers show in their plumage an endless va-
riegation of shade—reds, yellows, blues, duns, blacks,
whites, and silvers. No expense should be spared
at first for the purchase of two or more birds accus-
tomed to very high flying, as they will be of infi-
nite use afterwards, in teaching the young ones
THE PIGEON. 51
to be lofty soarers. After the pigeons have been ac-
customed to their habitations, they should be turned
out only once a day ina clear grey morning, when
there is neither mist nor wind, taking care to spread
out for them on their return a plentiful repast of
rape or canary seed, to entice then home, and after-
wards shutting them up for the rest of the day.
They should, for an obvious reason, be closely con-
fined when with egg.
The Carrier was called by some of the old fan-
ciers, the King of Pigeons. It is remarkable for the
fleshy protuberance called the wattle on the lower
part of the head. ‘These triple properties have been
enumerated as indicative of its excellence—three
in the head, three in the eye, three in the wattle,
and three in the beak. The head should be flat,
straight, and long; the eye broad, circular, and uni-
form; the wattle broad across the beak, short from
the head to the bill,;and leaning forward; the beak
long, straight, and thick. Pigeon jockeyship some.
times has attempted to imitate these qualities ar-
tificially, and to palm upon the inexperienced in.
ferior birds at the price of the best. The length
and thinness of the neck are marks of its elegarice.
The Horseman is supposed to be a bastard between
the Tumbler and Carrier: they are chiefly used at
present for deciding bets, and carrying letters, the
pure Carrier being so exceedingly scarce.
Dragoons were originally bred between the Horse-
man and Carrier; they are very strong and useful
birds ; being prolific breeders, and good nurses, they
are frequently kept as feeders to rear young Pouters,
52 THE PIGEON.
Leghorn runts, &c. Fora distance of fifteen or
twenty miles, the Dragoon is said to be more rapid
than the Horseman, but cannot keep up its superiori-
ty in a longer flight.
But while on this part of our subject, it would
not be doing justice to our readers, whether old or
young, and it would be denying to ourselves a grat-
ification, not to quote here the remarks of a corres-
pondent, who signs himself Toho, in the New Sport.
ing Magazine for June, 1839. They are at once
practical and scientific, and cannot fail to be inter-
esting to every possessor of a pigeon loft, who
wishes to improve the breed or’the value of hig stocks.
He says with regard to this beautiful and valuable
variety :
“The first property of a Carrier_is the length of
their flight or wing feathers, and the distance or
length from the base of the bill to the end, which
should always taper gradually. The colour is the
next, and though fanciers disagree on this point, I
prefer a blue to any other, as I have generally found
them hardier and swifter than the blacks or duns,
but, like dogs, good pigeons are to be found of all col-
ours. Firmness of feather always indicates a good
constitution. The age may be guessed by the size of
the wattle, and the heavy appearance of the bird.
‘‘The Antwerps are a later introduction into this
country, and their name bespeaks their origin. I
believe little was known of them before the famous
Antwerp match in July, 1830, when 110 birds were
tossed from the yard of a noted fancier in the Bo.
rough. ‘The first bird reached Antwerp, a distance
THE PIGEON. 53
of 186 miles, in five hours and a half, and gained the
gold medal ; cut of the 110, about 100 reached home.
‘To the eye of any one who has been solely accus-
tomed to the English Carrier, they possess but little
recommendation, but the fancier soon detects the
points of speed and beauty, in the fine and lengthy
shape of the bird. They are of many colours,
but I have found none better than the nearly reds
and blues. ‘This bird, in my opinion, is equal to the
Horseman in sagacity and speed, and altogether, I
prefer them to any other kind.
“The pigeon loft should always, if possible, face
the west or south, be high and roomy, with railed pens
to shut in birds for matching in the spring, or other
purposes, kept well lime-washed, which will both
destroy the insects, and keep it cool, and it should
be repeatedly cleaned out. A glass tile or two in the
roof, if it is a slanting one, will be useful to light
the loft.
There must be a railed trap projecting in front,
so that the birds may go out from the loft,and the front
of the trap will let down and pull up, by means of
a spring inside. This is the dormer, and in most
large lofts is out of the top of the roof. When the
trap is shut the birds will come in at the wires,
which open inwards to the loft, on a pivot, which is
called the bolting wire.
Of course, in stocking a loft, all depends upon
its size and the taste of the fancier. I should say,
six couples of Dragoons and strong Horsemen, and
two couples of Beards well matched, and purchased
in the spring, will be a good breeding supply. These
64 THE PIGEON.
must be shut in the loft for breeding, and the young
birds flown. They will begin breeding about the
end of February, and continue till October ; I would
however, for flying, save no kinds till May. The
old bird sits eighteen days, and the male relieves
the female. Peas form their chief food, but tares
will be found best for the young ones till they leave
the nest. While watching the birds, give a little
hemp-seed. Often before the young birds leave the
nest, the old ones will lay again. As soon as the
young can fly, they should be allowed to bask in the
dormer, and when they have gained confidence,
they will join the flight. After they have become
well accustomed to the loft, and are able to keep
pretty well with the flight, take them about halfa mile
from the loft in a bag made of coarse canvass, to
hold two birds, with a little straw, and toss them ; re-
peat the same distance for a few days, and gradually
increase it up to five miles. After this they are pret-
ty perfect, and two or three miles may be added to
the distance every day. If your loft be near a high
road, a great advantage will be found by giving the
birds to the coachmen to toss. There are many
ways of marking birds. I generally make a little
notch in the beak or between the toes, in the
same manner as game fowls. A little stamp with
the initials of the name, to mark them in red on the
tail and pinion feathers, will be useful till the birds
moult. In tossing a bird, always clear its wings and
feet, and holding it round the body and legs with
one hand, throw it well up,—-never near any trees,
as the young ones will frequently perch and there
remain.
THE PIGEON. 55
The speed of the Carrier has perhaps never been
ascertained. I have had them come seven miles, by
the road, in five minutes, and forty miles in the
hour is generally done; but too much depends upon
circumstances to give any opinion.
If a bird is going to doa large distance, it should
never be over-fed the night previous, but shut up in
a dark pen. If possible, choose a clear day for toss-
ing, for nothing beats pigeons like wind and fog.
A real Carrier will seldom stop till he reaches home.
If they are regularly flown, well fed and watered,
and kept clean, few diseases will be known in the
loft. Let them have a large tin pan to wash in,
change the water every day, and a lump of salt to
peck at.
The canker in the wattle is their worst disease,
and frequently arises from dirt or from the birds
fighting. The best cure is a piece of bitter aloes
of the size of a pea, given inwardly, and the day
after wash the wattle with warm water, and in the
evening wash the sore with lead ammoniae, and burnt
alum, mixed with lemon juice, till cured. Tobacco
smoke will be found useful to clear the loft from
vermin.
The value of birds will frequently depend more
on the fancy of the buyer, than on their real merit.
In first stocking a loft, I would never be too parti-
cular about price, as a good breeding stock is
worth more than half the latter. It would be diffi-
cult to fix any price as a general guide; I have
known Horsemen fetch £5 a pair, though good ones
may be bought for £2, and Dragoons will fetch all
56 THE PIGEON.
prices from 5s to £5 a couple. Beards are usually
the cheapest, and Antwerps are to be bought at few
fanciers, and frequently bring high prices. Of
course much depends upon the shape and colour,
but birds of a good strain will always fetch their
price among the fancy.
I shall confine my remarks to the flyers, and say
nothing about the tory kinds, which include 'Tum-
blers, Pouters, Jacobins, and many other species, which
are held by their respective fanciers in as high es-
timation as the best Carriers. Of the whole species,
Pouters fetch the highest prices. An amateur, who
has never attended a London pigeon show, would
be astonished at the prices set on the birds by their
owners ; and I know no prettier sight than a pen
of good Horsemen or Dragoons.
Like all other fancies, that of the pigeon will be
found both troublesome and expensive ; but this will
be fully compensated for, by the amusement afford-
ed in rearing and flying the birds, and I think that
every real lover of this bird will agree with me,
that an hour may be spent much less profitably and
usefully, than in the pigeon loft.
The Pouter is a very common but most interest-
ing bird. It is remarkable for its local attachment,
and although not a good breeder, and exceedingly
apt to degenerate, it is very useful about the pigeon.
house, by leading the other birds to form a stronger
house andhome. Some of them can distend their
crops to a very great size, so much so as frequently
to overbalance themselves. By judicious crossing and
patient perseverance, some fanciers have brought
THE PIGEON. 57
these birds to so high a point of perfection as to sell
them for twenty guineas a pair. ‘They are very bad
nurses, and it is difficult to rear their young without
the aid of the Dragoon. When a Pouter has laid
an egg at the same time with a Dragoon, they should
be carefully transferred from the one to the other, it
being necessary to allow the Pouter to sit, otherwise
she would continue to lay, which in a short time
would cause her emaciation and death. If bred in
and in, they quickly degenerate and become worth-
less, new kinds must therefore be got by purchase
or exchange, to prevent the deteriorating effects of
too close a consanguineous connexion. ‘The contra-
ry is the case with the Almond Tumbler, which, the
more it is bred in and in, only diminishes in size,
and is accordingly enhanced in beauty and value.
The fan-iail is a very beautiful bird, sometimes,
onaccount ofits frequent tremulous movement of the
neck, called the Broadtailed Shaker. When perfect,
its tail consists of not less than twenty-four or more
than thirty-six feathers, which it keeps spread and
always erect, for if they are but for once allowed to
drop, it is a fault never overlocked and never forgiv-
en. A very slender-necked, full-breasted, and large.
tailed bird, carrying the latter gracefully, is of very
great value. ‘The plumage is agreeably white, but
there is also a great variety of colours.
The Jacobine is a bird very scarce, and difficult to
‘be found of a good sort. It is sometimes called
Jack, and is a very small bird. It has a range of
inverted feathers on the back of the head, somewhat
resembling in form the cowl of a monk, or the ruff of
5
58 THE PIGEON.
a cavalier, and hence its name. This range of
feathers is called the hood—and the closer and more
compact it grows to the head the greater is the value
of the bird. The lower part of what is called the
chain and the feathers that compass it, should be
short and thick. There is a great variety of colour
among them, but the yellows always obtain prece-
dence.
Besides these we have enumerated, an almost end-
less variety of names has been given to some where
the shades of difference are very slight. With these
the young pigeon-keeper should have as little to do
as possible. Even with the commonest assortment
he can buy at the market or from a companion, he
will soon have a sufficient variety, and many to
please his eye with sufficient beauty ; and if it is ne-
cessary to assign them names, he can easily baptize
them himself without consulting the vocabularies of
the London fanciers.
Plucking one of the wings of old strangers to in-
duce them to haunt or to prevent them from their
vagabondizing propensities, sometimes manifested by
old inmates, is better than cutting, as their power of
flight comes on gradually as the feathers grow, and
they become familiar with and fond of the features
of the locality within a limited range of which they
have thus been for a time confined. We have al-
most always seen this mode succeed in our own ex-
perience, although the reports of others all tend to
the euperiority of endeavouring to haunt young in
preference to oid birds, whichis certainly surer and
safer, but the other may also be tried, as the old
THE PIGEON. 59
ones may begin to breed as soon as their wing is
grown, which only takes about a month, whereas
six times that period must be waited for before eggs
can be expected from the young ones. Ifa hen hap.
pens to be lost, it is seldom that the cock remains
long behind,—but the very contrary happens with
the loss of the cock. The hen sets out in search of
a mate, and she will soon be seen wiling a male
companion—widowed in all probability in some other
dovecote—homeward to her own residence, where
they speedily pair.
4, Diseases of Pigeons.—The most of fancy pi-
geons being monstrous productions, are peculiarly
subject to disease. Girton enumerates upwards of
a dozen, with their appropriate remedies, including
corruption of the egg in uterus from over-high feed-
ing,—a gorged crop, from voracious feeding,—in-
sects, from filthiness in the pigeon-houses,—and the
canker, from cocks fighting witheach other. Little
can be done in the way of curing these diseases, ex-
cept by their recurrence to proper regimen, and
if this does not produce the desired effect, it is bet-
ter to put the bird hors de peine, both for the sake of
humanity and to prevent the spread of infection.
Fortunately the common pigeon, reared for the sake
of the table, is but little liable to any of these disor-
ders.
5. Laws regarding Pigeons.—By the 1 of James,
chap. 27, shooting, or destroying pigeons by other
meaus, is, onthe evidence of two witnesses, punisha-
ble by a fine of 20 shillings for every bird killed or ta-
ken; and by the 2 of George III. c. 29, the same of-
60 THE PIGEON.
fence may be’proved by one witness, and the fine is
20 shillings to the prosecutor.
According to 7 and 8 Geo. 4, c. 29, sect. 33, per-
sons unlawtully killing, wounding, or taking any
house-dove er pigeon, under such circumstances as do
not amount to larceny, at common law, shall forfeit
over and above the value of the bird, any sum not ex-
ceeding forty shillings. Occupiers of land may law-
fully kill pigeons destroying corn.
At the Westminster Court of Requests, in Feb-
ruary, 1829, adecision was made against TRAPPING
pigeons, the defendant being amerced in the price of
the birds he had entrapped.
Any lord of the manor, or freeholder, may build a
pigeon-house on his own land, but it cannot be done
by the tenant without the lord’s permission. Shoot-
ing or killing within a certain distance of the pigeon-
house, renders the transgressor liable to forfeiture.
«. The remarks of Mr, Cobbet, on the subject of pi-
geons, are very sensible, short, founded on good au-
thority, and worthy of attention.
“A few of them may be kept,” he says, “about
any cottage, for they are kept even in towns by la-
bourers and artizans. ‘They cause but little trouble.
They take care of their own young, and they do not
scratch, or do any other mischief in gardens. They
want feeding with tares, peas, or small beans ; and
buck-wheat is very good for them. To begin keep-
ing them, they must not have flown at large before
you get them. You must keep them for two or three
days shut into the place which is to be their home ;
and then they may be let out, and will never leave
THE PIGEON. _ 61
you, as long as they can get proper food, and are un-
disturbed by vermin, or unannoyed exceedingly by
lice. ‘The common dove-house pigeons are the best
to keep. ‘They breed oftenest, and feed their young
ones best. They begin to breed at about nine months
old, and if well kept, they will give you eight or
nine pair inthe year. Any little place, a shelf in
the cow shed; a board or two under the eaves of the
house ; or, in short, any place under cover, even on
the ground floor, they will sit and hatch and breed up
their young ones in.
“Ji is not supposed that there could be much profit
attached to them; but they are of this use. they
are very pretty creatures; very interesting in their
manners ; they are an object to delight children, and
to give them the early habit of fondness for animals
and of setting a value on them, which, as I have often
had to observe before, is a very great thing. A con-
siderable part of all the property of a nation consists
of animals. Of course a proportionate part of the
cares and labours of a people appertains to the breed-
ing and bringing to perfection those animals; and, if
you consult your experience, you will find that a la-
bourer is, generally speaking, of value in proportion
as he is worthy of being intrusted with the care of
animals. ‘The most careless fellow cannot hurt a
hedge or ditch ; but to trust him with the ¢eam or the
flock, is another matter. And, mind, for the man
to be trust-worthy in this respect, the boy must have
been in the habit of being kind and considerate to-
wards animals; and nothing is so likely to give
him that excellent habit as his seeing, from his
62 THE PIGEON.
very birth, animals taken great care of, and treated
with great kindness, by his parents, and now-and-
then having a little thing to call his own.”
Yet, notwithstanding the protection thus afforded
them by law, and the opinion thus expressed of
their value, by one who had not the highest reverence
for legislative wisdom, it is lamentable to think how
much this poor persecuted emblem of innocence has
been made to administer to the base and depraved
propensities of some of the lower members of the
modern sporting world.
Chalk Farm has risen into a new, andas little to be
envied, notoriety, by men now shooting pigeons
there, as fools, with a greater regard at least to jus-
tice, stood to shoot at one another, for the poor pi-
geon has less chance against a crack cockney shot,
than the duellist against the hair-trigger of his anta-
gonist. ‘The trembling hand, or the leadless barrel
of the latter, may insure safety, but dozens of pigeons,
despite their power of wing, and speed of flight, are
brought down merely for the settlement of some quar-
relling bets, or as the prelude to some tavern dinner,
ortavern brawl, or the formation of a new match,
where the same degrading scenes are to be repeated
over again. Let it not be said there is no more
harm in shooting a pigeon, than in pulling its neck.
In point of morality, they are wide as the poles asun-
der. In every act regard the agent’s end, and in
the latter we see but a fulfilment of the destinies of
nature, but in the other the fostering of vice, the
indulgence of cruelty, and an administration to the
basest passions of mankind.
THE PIGEON. 63
Our readers may have read much in the periodi-
cals of the day, of Battersea-fields, the chief theatre
of the sport of pigeon shooting. In the words well
expressed of a well-informed writer, “ That few peo-
ple, even those accustomed to reflect on animal suf-
ferings, are aware of those of the wretched town-
pigeon; harassed about from its first quitting the
nest, through the rough hands of scores of unfeeling
blackguards ; its feathers pulled, its wings braced,
starved,and forced to fly againstits inclination, match-
ed, then unmatched, and its dearest ties broken ;
sold, resold, exposed in cages, immersed in cellars,
coal-holes, and loaded with every misery which can
be inflicted by the wanton caprice, neglect, and
beastly ignorance of the two-legged race, its tyrants.”
British Field Sports—It is better not to be initated
into the fancy pigeon “ Cultivation” at all, or mere-
ly to keep pigeons for the use of the table, with the
additional pleasure to be derived from contemplating
their flight, with a degree of attention to those birds
which are of the largest size, and most beautiful ap-
pearance. The best authenticated Treatise on Do-
mestic Pigeons, especially regarding the fancy varie-
ties, was published by Barry of Fenchurch Street,
in 1765, containing also some very good descriptive
plates. That Treatise has been succeeded by Moore’s
Columbarium, and some others, fvunded on their
authority.
6. Economy of Pigeons.—The only breeds worth
keeping, exclusive of the common sort, are Tumblers,
Horsemen, Carriers, Turtles, Dragoons, (commonly
called Dragons), and Runts—the latter both Spanish
64 THE PIGEON.
and Leghorn, for their great size. As breeders, no
fancy pigeons will in general equal the common
dove-house kind, unless perhaps with ena care and
attention.
The pigeon is monogamous; that is, the male at-
taches once, confines himself to one female, and the
attachment is reciprocal—the fidelity of the dove to
its mate being proverbial. Yet it will be often seen
that the most bitter hate and deadly hostility prevail
among them. One will at times assume the reins
of even worse than castern despotism, and tyrannize
it over the rest with the utmost cruelty. Then all
the symptoms of innocence disappear; all the stand-
ards of peace are furled; persecution, anarchy, and
confusion, usurp their place. This often arises from
the intrusion of a stranger, for it should be remarked
that pigeons have a proud as well as a generally
peaceful disposition, or rather they have, when once
attached to it, so much of the amor dormi as resent-
fully to resist the intrusion of a stranger, to lay
aside for a season their peaceful nature, and to take
up arms in resistance of a foreign invasion. Some-
times the intruder—especially if a strong, old, illna-
tured cock—will either succeed in putting the whole
of the native residents to the rout, or at least in giv.
ing them no peace at home. In this he succeeds by
attacking them singly, as soon as one appears upon
the lighting board, or if he chance to reign for a mo-
ment there alone, by darting fiercely upon the first in-
dividual that appears upon an adjoining roof. Pi-
geons do net seem to be aware of the power of com-
bination, or to have learned the doctrine that union
THE PIGEON. 65
is strength, ora couple attacking sucha fellow con.
jointly would annihilate him at once. But in such
a case the only resource of the owner is to look to
the instant destruction of the intruder, and it is only
pigeons possessed of such a character that we would
ever wish to see consigned to the sportsmen of Chalk
Farm and Battersea-fields.
Young pigeons are termed squeakers, and begin to
breed about the age of six months, when properly
managed. Their courtship, and the well known tone
of voice in the cock, just then acquired and commenc-
ing, are indications of their approaching union.
Nestlings, whilst fed by the cock and hen, are termed
squabs, and are at that age sold and used for the ta-
ble. ‘The Dove-house pigeon is said to breed month-
ly, being well supplied with food, more particularly
when the ground is bound by frost or covered with
snow. At any rate, it may be depended on, that pi-
geons of almost any healthy and well established va-
riety, will breed eight or ten times in the year;
whence it may be conceived how immense are the
quantities which may be raised.
It is nevertheless with difficulty that entire credit
can be given to the calculations with respect to the
increase either of pigeons or rabbits—bringing to our
remembrance, to compare small things with great,
the earths of gold of the celebrated Doctor Price,
which have been so greatly reduced in number and
weight by subsequent doctors. But we cannot ques-
tion the positive testimony of Stillingfleet, who as-
serts that fourteen thousand seven hundred and sixty
pigeons were produced from one single pair, in the
66 THE PIGEON.
course of four years. To class things of a similar
bearing together, it has been calculated (but by whom,
or on what practical ground,is not well known,)
that a single pair of rabbits may produce one mil-
lion two hundred and seventy-four thousand eight
hundred and forty of their kind! This is a question
however more speculative than practical, and any
one who commences with a couple of pairs, if they
once proceed successfully, will find the increase suf-
ficiently great to satisfy any reasonable expectation,
and to answer all domestic purposes which they
are intended to serve.
7. The Dove Cote.—The first step towards pigeon-
keeping is undoubtedly to provide a commodious
place for their reception; the next, to provide the
pigeons themselves. These will be bred in pairs,
but if not actually matched, pairs must be afterwards
taken for that purpose, that no time may be lost;
indeed, they may be matched according to the fancy
of the keepers, for the purpose of varying the co-
lours, or with any otherview. But it is necessary
to give a caution on the subject of old pigeons, of
which a bargain may offer, since the difficulty of re-
turning them 1s so great, indeed insuperable, without
the strictest vigilance. Nothing short of cutting or
pulling their wing, and confining them closely, per-
haps until they have young to attach them to the
place, will be a security; and even afterwards, they
have been known to take flight with the first use of
their wings, and leave their nests. Thence it is al-
ways preferable to purchase Squeakars, or such as
have not yet flown; these being confined, ina short
THE PIGEON. 67
time, well fed, and accustomed gradually to the sur-
rounding scenery, before they have acquired suffi-
cient strength of wing wherewith to lose themselves,
will become perfectly domesticated.
The Dove Cote, or pigeon-loft, as to its situation
or extent, will necessarily depend on convenience ;
one general rule, however, must be invariably ob-
served—that every pair of pigeons have two holes, or
rooms, to rest in. Without this indispensable con-
venience, there will be no security, but the prospect
of constant confusion, breaking of eggs, and des.
truction of the young. Pigeons do well near dwel-
lings, stables, bake-houses, granaries, brew houses or
such offices: or their proper place is in the poul-
try court.
A dove cote is a good object situated upon an
island, in the centre of a piece of water; indeed,
such is a proper situation for aquatic poultry, and
rabbits also; and may be rendered extremely beau-
tifuland picturesque by planting, and a little simple,
ornamental, and useful building. Where pigeons
are kept in a room, some persons prefer making their
nests upon the floor, to escape the danger of the young
falling out; but in all probability, this 1s to guard
against one risk, and incur a greater danger, parti-
eularly that of rats and other vermin.
The front of the pigeon-room, or cote, should, if
possible, have a south-west aspect; and if a room be
selected for the purpose, it is usual to break a hole in
the roof of the building, as a passage for the pigeons,
which can be closed at convenience. A platform
is laid by the carpenter at the entrance, for the pi-
68 THE PIGEON.
geons to alight and perch upon, with some kind of de-
fence against cats, which will often depopulate a
whole dove-house. Cats are yet necessary for the
defence of the pigeons against rats and mice, as they
will both destroy the birds and suck the eggs;
thence cats of a known good breed should be train-
ed up familiarly with the pigeons. Yet still, espe-
cially in towns, they are exposed to great danger
from strange cats, belonging to neighbours. These
will often find their way to the best guarded and
best constructed pigeon-loft, from a great distance,
and by peculiar stratagems, to which their instinct
naturally leadsthem. Even when situated on the top
of a lofty house we have known a whole flock destroy-
ed or scared for ever from the place ina single night.
Unless the house is completely isolated, there is no
security for the pigeons for a single night, however
long danger may have been previously escaped. In
such circumstances a box, fastened to the wall near
a window, will afford the greatest security, and suf.
ficient convenience both for observation, amusement,
and profit. ,
White being a favourite colour with pigeons, the
platform must be so painted, and their boxes also;
and the paint renewed ag often as necessary, as _ the
whiter their abode is, it adds the more towards its
being a guide to them in their flight homeward. A
portion of lime and water may be sufficient to reno-
vate whiteness.
Cleanliness is one of the first and most important
considerations; the want of it will soon render the
dove-cote a nuisance, and the birds, both young and
THE PIGEON. 69
old, will be so covered with vermin, and besmeared
with their own excrement, that they can enjoy no
health or comfort, and mortality is often so induced.
Ours were daily cleaned ; thoroughly once a week,
a tub standing at hand for the reception of the dung,
the floor covered with sifted gravel, often renewed.
Pigeons are exceedingly fond of water, and, having
a prescience of rain, they will be waiting until after
sun-set, and spreading forth their wings, as in anxiety
to be refreshed by the coming shower. When they
are confined in a room, a fresh supply of water should
be allowed them every day; it cools and refreshes,
and assists them to keep their bodies clear from ver-
min.
Great caution is necessary with respect to the
pigeons fighting, to which they are more prone than
might be supposed ; and it leads often to the destruc-
tion of eggs or young, and driving the weakest away.
The common barrel deve-cote needs no description
however we will give a short sketch of it, for the
benefit of our juvenile readers.
The common Barrel Dove-cote is erected on a light
staff or pole, adapted to every situation in which
it is desirable to keep pigeons for ordinary use. ‘To
return to the room or loft: the shelves should be
placed sufficiently high, for security against vermin,
a smal] Jadder being a necessary appendage. ‘The
usual breadth of the shelves is about twenty inches,
with the allowance of eighteen between shelf and
shelf, which will be sufficient not to incommode the
tallest pigeon. Partitions between the shelves may
be fixed at the distance of about three feet, making
70 THE PIGEON.
a blind, by a board nailed against the front of each
partition, whence there will be two nests in the com-
pass of every three feet, so that the pigeons will sit
in privacy ; ora partition may be fixed between each
nest—a good plan, which prevents the young run.
ning to the hen, sitting over fresh eggs, and perhaps
occasioning her to cool and addle them; for when
the young are about a fortnight or three weeks old,
a good hen will leave them to the care of the cock,
and lay again. Some prefer breeding holes, entirely
open in front, for the greater convenience in clear-
ing the nests; but it is from those that the squabs
are likely to fall, thence a step of sufficient height is
preferable. The tame pigeon seldom taking the
trouble to make a nest, it is better to give her one
of hay, which prevents her eggs from rolling. A bas-
ket, or an unglazed earthen pan, may be placed in
every nest, apportioned to the size of the pigeon you
breed. A pan of three inches high, eight over the
top, and sloping towards the bottom like a basin,
will be sufficiently large for a Tumbler, whilst one of
double those dimensions will be required for a Runt.
A brick ought always to be placed near enough the
pan, to enable the cock and hen to alight with safe-
ty uponthe eggs. The Pigeon-trap on the house-top,
is the well known contrivance of those London ras-
cals who lie in wait to entrap the property of others.
A trap of another description, but for a very differ-
ent purpose, is sometimes used ; it is an area, on the
outside of a building, for the purpose of confining
in open air, valuable braces of pigeons which cannet
be trusted to flight. Some are erected to the extent
|
THE PIGEON. TL
of twenty yards long, and ten yards in width, with
shelves on every side, for the perching of the pi-
geons; thus they are constantly exercised in the
air, retiring at pleasure to the room or loft within.
Very convenient baskets are now made in the cradle
form, with separate apartments, and serve for the
carriage of pigeons, for matching, putting them up
to fatten, or any other of the usu: al purposes. ood
and water should be given in such a way as to beas
little as possible contaminated with the excrement,
or any other impurity. Ifpigeons are constantly at-
tended to, there is no need of any other convenience
than earthen pans; there have been ingenious inven-
tions for this purpose, of which the meat bow and wa-
ter bottle following are specimens. ‘The meat-box
is formed in shape of a hopper, covered at top to
keep clean the grain, which descends into a square
shallow box. Some fence this with rails or holes
on each side, to keep the grains from being scattered
over; others leave it quite open, that the young pi-
geons may the more easily find their food. The wa-
ter-botile is made to contain from one to five gallons,
it has along neck, and a body shaped like an egg, so
as to prevent the pigeons from lighting on it, and
dunging it. It is placed upon a stand, made hollow
above, to receive the bottle, and let the mouth into
a small pan beneath: the water will, in such wise,
gradually descend fro the mouth of the bottle as the
pigeons drink, be sweet and clean, and always stop
when the surface reaches the mouth of the bottle.
8. Matching, or Pairing and Breeding of Pigeons.—
To match or pair a cock and hen, it is necessary to
72 THE PIGEON.
shut them up together, and within reach of each oth-
er; and the connexion is generally formed in a day
or two. Various rules have been laid down, by
which to distinguish the cock from the hen pigeon ;
but the masculine forwardness and action of the cock
is, for the most part, distinguishable. Incubation.—
The great increase of domestic pigeons does not pro-
ceed from the number of eggs laid by them, but from
the frequency of their hatching. The hen lays but
two eggs, and immediately proceeds to incubation.
Having laid her first egg she rests one day, and on
the next lays her second one. They usually stand
over the first egg, not setting close until they have
two, whence both the young are hatched nearly at
the same time. ‘There are some exceptions, how-
ever, to this rule of nature, and the hen having sat
close at first, one young bird may be hatched before
the other. They often spoil their first eggs from in-
experience. The period of incubation is nineteen or
twenty days from laying the first egg, and seventeen
or eighteen from the second. The duty of setting is
shared equally between the cock and hen, excepting
that the hen always sits by night. She is relieved in
the morning by the cock, which sits during the great-
er part of the day. The business of feeding the
young: is, also divided between the parents, and the
cock has often brought up the young, on the accident.
al loss of his mate. Should the eggs not be hatched
in due time, from weakness, some small assistance
may be necessary to extricate the bird from the
shell ; or should they be addled, it is generally held
necessary to provide the cock and hen with a bor-
THE PIGEON. 73
rowed pair of young; or at least one, to feed off
their soft meat, which else may stagnate in their
crops, and make them sick; but as young ones may
not always be at hand for this purpose, the exercise
of flying, fresh gravel, and those saline compositions
generally given to pigeons, are the proper remedies.
Addled, or rotten eggs should be immediately remov-
ed. Pigeons are extremely liable to be lost by ac-
cident, and that which is unaccountable, although
they will find their home from such great distance,
they nevertheless often lose themselves in their own
neighbourhood. Should a pair be lost during incu-
bation, the eggs will spoil in twenty or thirty hours,
and may then be taken from the’nest ; but if the ac-
cident happen after hatching, the parent left will
feed the young. ‘The young are easily accustomed
to be fed by the hand, should both parents happen to
be lost. For this purpose barley should seldom be
tried, as tares and small peas are far preferable.
to this part of the subject, as it is upon his skill and
attention in feeding, the greater part of the success
and satisfaction of the young fancier will depend,
96 THE RABBIT.
“ Abundant food,” says Cobbet, “is the main thitig ;
and what is there that a rabbit will not eat? I know
of nothing green that they will not eat ; and if hard
pushed, they will eat bark, and even wood. The
best thing to feed the young ones on when taken from
the mother, i is the carrot, wild or garden. Parsnips,
Swedish turnips, roots of dandelion ; for too much
green or watery stuff is not good for weaning rabbits.
They should remain as long as possible with the
mother. They should have oats once a-day ; and,
after a time, they may eat anything with safety.
But if you give them too much green at first when
they are weaned, they rot as sheep do.
in truth a delightful songster, very fur superior to the Canary.
They winter in Pennsylvania, and about the Ist of May retire
to the North to breed. They fly in vast flocks, and aretaken in
trap cages, and sold at high prices under the name of Linnets
They very scon become familiar, but sometimes refuse to sing
in confinement. From.an excellent work en Ornithology, we
copy the following notice of their musical powers; and in no
way does it exceed the reality.
«The song of this beautiful Finck is, indeed, much finer than
that of the Canary, the notes are remarkably clear and mellow,
and the trilling sweet and various, particularly on their first
arrival. Attimes the warble is scarcely audible, and appears
at a distance ; it then by a fine crescendo bursts into loudness,
and falls into an ecstacy of ardent and overpowering expres-
sion: at such times the usual pauses of the song are forgotten,
and like the varied lay of the Nightingale, the ravishing per-
former, as if in serious emulation, seems to study every art to
produce the effect of brilliant and well contrasted. harmony.
The rapidity of his performance, and the prominent execution
with which it is delivered, seem almost like the effort of a musical
box, or fine-toned quietly-moving celicate strain of the organ.”
Canary, hemp, millet and suniiower seeds may be fed to
them ; of the latter they are very fond. Juniper and cedar ber.
ries should be given them occasionally through the winter 5,
salad and beet tops also during the summer.
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