Part 68
A sege of herons and of bitterns; an herd of swans, of cranes, and of curlews; a dopping of sheldrakes; a spring of teals; a covert of coots; a gaggle of geese; a badelynge of ducks; a sord or sute of mallards; a muster of peacocks; a nye of pheasants; a bevy of quails; a covey of partridges; a congregation of plovers; a flight of doves; a dule of turkeys, a walk of snipes; a fall of woodcocks; a brood of hens; a building of rooks; a murmuration of starlings; an exaltation of larks; a flight of swallows; a host of sparrows; a watch of nightingales; and a charm of goldfinches.
When beasts went together in companies, there was said to be a pride of lions; a lepe of leopards; an herd of harts, of bucks, and of all sorts of deer; a bevy of roes; a sloth of bears; a singular of boars; a sownder of wild swine; a dryft of tame swine; a route of wolves; a harass of horses; a rag of colts; a stud of mares; a pace of asses; a baren of mules; a team of oxen; a drove of kine; a flock of sheep; a tribe of goats; a skulk of foxes; a cete of badgers; a richness of martins; a fesynes of ferrets; a huske or a down of hares; a nest of rabbits; a clowder of cats, and a kendel of young cats; a shrewdness of apes; and a labour of moles; and, when animals were retired to rest, a hart was said to be harboured, a buck lodged, a roebuck bedded, a hare formed, a rabbit set, a fox kennelled, a martin tree’d, an otter watched, a badger earthed, a boar couched: hence, to express their dislodging they say, unharbour the hart, rouse the buck, start the hare, bolt the rabbit, unkennel the fox, untree the martin, vent the otter, dig the badger, and rear the boar. Two greyhounds were called a brace; three a leash; but two spaniels or harriers were called a couple, and three, a couple and a half; there was also a mute of hounds for a number; a litter of whelps, and a cowardice of curs.—_Strutt_—_Ascham_—_Daniel_—_Book of St. Alban’s._
PIANET, _s._ A bird, the lesser woodpecker; the magpie.
PIE, _s._ A magpie, a particoloured bird.
Birds of this kind are found in every part of the known world, from Greenland to the Cape of Good Hope; the general character of this kind is chiefly as follows:—The bill is strong, and has a slight curvature along the top of the upper mandible; the edges are thin, and sharp or cultrated; in many of the species there is a small notch near the tip; the nostrils are covered with bristles; tongue divided at the end; three toes forward, one behind, the middle toe connected to the outer as far as the first joint.—_Bewick._
PIEBALD, _a._ Of various colours, diversified in colour.
PIED, _a._ Variegated, particoloured.
PIG, _s._ A young sow or boar; an oblong mass of lead or unforged iron.
This instinctive sagacity, which guides animals who have been taken from their old haunts, in making their way back to them, appears in some to whom we should have been least disposed to attribute it. I have an anecdote from a gentleman, who resided some years on an estate high up the Susquehanna, of some pigs, which, having been brought in a sack fifteen miles through an American wood, by the next morning had found their way back, from their new to their old home.—_Jesse._
PIGEON (_Columba_, LINN.), _s._ A domestic bird.
PIGEONS (_Columbidæ_, LEACH; _Rasores_, ILLIGER), _s._ A family of snatching birds.
Of these the varieties and intermixtures are innumerable, and partake of all those varied hues which are the constant result of domestication. The manners of pigeons are well known, few species being more universally diffused, and having a very powerful wing, they are enabled to perform very distant journeys; accordingly wild and tame pigeons occur in every climate, and although they thrive best in warm countries, yet with care they succeed also in very northern latitudes. Every where their manners are gentle and lively; they are fond of society, and the very emblem of connubial attachment; they are faithful to their mates, whom they solicit with the softest cooings, the tenderest caresses, and the most graceful movements. The exterior form of the pigeon is beautiful and elegant: the bill is weak straight and slender, and has a soft protuberance at the base, in which the nostrils are placed: the legs are short and red, and the toes divided to the origin.
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Buffon enumerates upwards of thirty varieties of the pigeon, which, according to his usual systematic plan—its convenience, perhaps, being rather more obvious than its accuracy—he derives from one root, namely, the stock-dove, or common wild pigeon. All the varieties of colour and form which we witness, he attributes to human contrivance and fancy. There exist, nevertheless, essential specific differences 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.
The pigeon is monogamous, that is, the male attaches and confines himself to one female, and the attachment is reciprocal: the fidelity of the dove to its mate being proverbial. Young pigeons are termed squeakers, and begin to breed at 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 commencing, 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 table. The dove-house pigeon is said to breed monthly, 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 pigeons of almost any healthy and well established variety, will breed eight or ten times in the year; whence it may be conceived how immense are the quantities which may be raised.
The first step towards pigeon keeping, is, undoubtedly, to provide a commodious place for their reception, of which I shall afterwards speak; the next, to provide the pigeons themselves. These will be had in pairs, but if not actually matched, pains must be afterwards taken, to that end, that no time be lost; indeed, they may be matched according to the fancy of the keepers, for the purpose of varying the colours, or with any other view. But it is necessary to give a caution on the subject of old pigeons, of which a bargain may offer, since the difficulty of retaining them is so great, indeed insuperable, without the strictest vigilance. Nothing short of cutting their wings, and confining them closely 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. I have had several examples of this. Thence it is always preferable to purchase squeakers, or such as have not yet flown: these, being confined, in a short time, well fed, and accustomed gradually to the surrounding scenery, before they have acquired sufficient 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 observed,—that every pair of pigeons have two holes, or rooms, to nest in. Without this indispensable convenience there will be no security, but the prospect of constant confusion, breaking of eggs, and destruction of the young. Pigeons do well near dwellings, stables, bake-houses, brew-houses, or such offices; or their proper place is in the poultry-court. A dove-cote is a good object, situate 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 beautiful and 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 is to guard against one risk, and incur a great number, particularly that of rats and other vermin.
The front of the pigeon-room, or cote, should 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 for the passage of the pigeons, which can be closed at convenience. A platform is laid by the carpenter at the entrance, for the pigeons to alight and perch upon, with some kind of defence against strange 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 trained up familiarly with the pigeons. The platform should be painted white, and renewed as the paint wears off, white being a favourite colour with pigeons, and also most conspicuous as a mark to enable them to find their home. The boxes also should be so coloured, and renewed as necessary, for which purpose lime and water will be sufficient.
Cleanliness is one of the first and most important considerations, the want of it in a dove-cote will soon render the place a nuisance not to be approached, and the birds, both young and 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 cleaned daily; thoroughly once a week, a tub standing at hand for the reception of their dung, the floor covered with sifted gravel, often renewed. Pigeons are exceedingly fond of water, and having a prescience of rain, will wait its coming until late in the evening, upon the house-top, spreading their wings to receive the refreshing shower. When they are confined in a room, they should be allowed a wide pan of water, to be often renewed, as a bath, which cools, refreshes and assists them to keep their bodies clear of vermin. In the attendance upon pigeons, caution is necessary with respect to their fighting, to which they are more prone than might be expected, often to the destruction of eggs or young, or driving the weakest away.
The common barrel dove-cote needs no description, at the same time it is 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 small ladder 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 pigeons. Partitions between the shelves may be fixed at the distance of about three feet, making a blind, by a board nailed against the front of each partition, whence there will be two nests in the compass of every three feet, so that the pigeons will sit in privacy, and not liable to be disturbed. Or a partition may be fixed between each nest;—a good plan, which prevents the young from running 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 cleaning 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. Or a straw basket, or unglazed earthen pan, may be placed in every nest, apportioned to the size of the pigeons you breed. A pan of three inches high, eight inches over the top, and sloping to the bottom like a basin, will be of sufficient size for a tumbler, or a small pigeon, whilst one of double those dimensions will be required for a large runt. A brick should always be placed in contiguity to the pan, to enable the cock and hen to alight with greater safety upon the eggs.
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The pigeon-trap on the house-top is the well-known contrivance of those London rascals, who lie in wait, as has been said, to entrap the property of others. A trap of another description, and for a very different purpose, is sometimes used; it is an area, on the outside of a building, for the purpose of confining in the air valuable breeds of pigeons which cannot be trusted to flight. Some are erected to the extent of twenty yards long and ten yards in width, with shelves on every side for the perching of the pigeons; thus they are constantly exercised in the air, retiring at their pleasure to the room or loft within.
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Very convenient baskets are now made of the cradle form, with partitions, or separate apartments. They serve for the carriage of pigeons for matching, or putting them up to fatten, or for any of the usual purposes. I have seen them lately, in the basket-shops on the Greenwich road, two or three miles from London.
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Food and water should be given in such a way as to be as little as possible contaminated with the excrement, or any other impurity. Our pigeons having been constantly attended, we have never found the need of any other convenience than earthen pans; but there have been ingenious inventions for this purpose, of which the meat-box and water-bottle following are specimens. The meat-box is formed in the shape of a hopper, covered at the 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 grain from being scattered over; others leave it quite open that the young pigeons may the more easily find their food.
The water-bottle is a large glass bottle, with a long neck, holding from one to five gallons, its belly shaped like an egg, so that the pigeons may not light and dung upon it. It is placed upon a stand or three-footed stool, made hollow above, to receive the belly of the bottle, and let the mouth into a small pan beneath: the water will so gradually descend out of the mouth of the bottle as the pigeons drink, and be sweet and clean, and always stop when the surface reaches the mouth of the bottle.
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To match or pair a cock and hen, it is necessary to shut them together, or near and within reach of each other; 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.
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The following singular detection of a thief occurred on a late examination at Queen Square, Westminster:—Mr. Bepy, in the Wandsworth road, had his pigeon-house robbed. A known thief was stopped on the road with six fancy pigeons in his possession, by Sergeant Reardon of the police, and taken before the magistrates, but no evidence appearing against him, he was discharged, and suffered to take away the birds, which he claimed as having purchased them. Cooper, an officer of the court, being somewhat up to the pigeon fancy, and seeing them above the common sort, purchased them, and very commendably determined to find out the real owner, which he effected in the following ingenious mode. Selecting a fine bald-head, he attached a note to its foot, with his address, and then threw up the pigeon, which instantly flew to its own home, and was recovered by its owner, who returned it to Cooper, making him a present of the half-dozen as a reward for his sagacity.
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The starling is a great enemy to pigeons, by sucking their eggs, and even destroying their young. In October, 1800, seven hundred and eighty starlings were taken in one night in a dove-cot belonging to Mr. Slater, of Chalton, near Lincoln.
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In 1807, was in the possession of Mr. Knight, of Chichester, a hen pigeon of the pouter species, who, in that summer, hatched three pair of young. She is twenty-one years old, and is considered a remarkable instance of longevity, as Buffon, and other naturalists, have not allowed this bird, from the heat of its nature, above eight or nine years of life, and to be incapable of procreation after seven.
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The penalty for shooting them is 20_s._ for each pigeon. (Under statute of 1 Jac. I.)
For shooting at pigeons, with intent to kill, the penalty would (by 2 Geo. II.) be the same as for killing one pigeon, viz. 20_s._ Informations for these offences must be commenced within two months.
In pigeon-shooting the most extraordinary performance was by Tupor, the gamekeeper of Sir H. Mildmay, (the same person who broke the sow to stand to game,) who, for a considerable wager, shot six pigeons out of ten with a single ball.
Tupor afterwards, to decide a bet, hit a cricket-ball, with common shot, twelve times successively, betwixt the wickets, bowled by Harris, one of the sharpest bowlers in the Hambleton Club. He is also said to have killed swallows with a single ball.
The next was effected by Mr. Elliot, at Rudgewick, in Sussex, who undertook to kill fifty pigeons at fifty shots; it was decided near Petworth, at Tillington, and notwithstanding the wind was high, he killed forty-five: it was allowed he hit every bird, and that he would have succeeded but for the above circumstance. He had but one gun, the touch-hole of which fairly melted.
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Four gentlemen of Camberwell undertook, for a wager of five guineas a side, to shoot at twelve pigeons, and great bets were depending, but to the mortification of the persons present, they neither of them brought down a single bird.
Mr. Keene, of Hammersmith, killed twenty pigeons in twenty-one shots, from a trap at the regular twenty-one yards’ distance, and in March, 1811, he killed, in a match against Mr. Elliot, the same number, beating his adversary by one.
In Wiltshire, the same year, Captain Hicks shot against the gamekeeper of Mr. Maurice, at fifteen pigeons, turned off at the same distance; each killed the whole, and in shooting off the ties, the former missed his sixth bird, and lost the match, which was for two hundred guineas.—_Moubray_—_Daniel._
PIKE, _s._ A long lance used by the foot soldiers to keep off the horse, to which bayonets have succeeded; a fork used in husbandry; among turners, two iron springs between which anything to be turned is fastened; a large fish of prey.
The pike, termed for its voracity the fresh-water shark, is found in most of the larger lakes and rivers of Great Britain. It grows to an immense size—is easily produced as a pond fish—and, being a bold determined biter, affords excellent sport to the lovers of the art. It is taken with natural and artificial baits, as frogs, mice, minnows or any kind of fry; and when the weather is favourable very little skill is requisite to obtain abundant sport in a well-stocked water. The best mode of pike-fishing is trolling. _Vide_ TROLLING.
The pike’s voraciousness is well known: what is here mentioned of it is singular. In 1810, a hook baited with a roach, was set in the manor-pond, at Toddington, Bedfordshire; the next morning a large pike was caught, which with difficulty was got out. It appeared that a pike of three and a half pounds weight was first caught, which was afterwards swallowed by another, weighing thirteen pounds and a half, and both were taken.
It has been before remarked, that pike are frequently shot, when floating near the surface of the water. Other sorts of fish are often so destroyed. In June, 1808, Mr. Byrne, the Earl of Lonsdale’s gamekeeper, shot in the river Eden, at Beaumont, near Carlisle, the extraordinary number of eighty-six fish, at two shots; the smallest fish was seven inches in length.
The smaller lakes, which are so profusely scattered over the surface of this county, vary in the species of fish which they respectively produce, as much as they do in their own natural size and character. Some of them afford trouts, others pike only, and many are stocked with both. That this union cannot long subsist, I should be inclined to infer from one remarkable circumstance, and it is a convincing proof of the rapid destruction which the introduction of pike into a trout lake will occasion. Within a short distance of Castlebar there is a small bog-lake, called Derreens; ten years ago it was celebrated for its numerous and well-sized trouts. Accidentally pike effected a passage into the lough from the Minola river, and now the trouts are extinct or, at least, none of them are caught or seen. Previous to the intrusion of the pikes, half-a-dozen trouts would be killed in an evening in Derreens, whose collective weight often amounted to twenty pounds.
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Indeed the appetite of one of my pike was almost insatiable. One morning I threw to him, one after the other, five roach, each about four inches in length. He swallowed four of them, and kept the fifth in his mouth for about a quarter of an hour, when it also disappeared.
Fish appear, also, to be capable of entertaining affection for each other. I once caught a female pike during the spawning season, and nothing could drive the male away from the spot at which the female disappeared, whom he had followed to the very edge of the water. A person who had kept two small fish together in a glass, gave one of them away; the other refused to eat, and showed evident symptoms of uneasiness till his companion was restored to him.
The boldness of a pike is very extraordinary. I have seen one follow a bait within a foot of the spot where I have been standing; and the head keeper of Richmond Park assured me that he was once washing his hand at the side of a boat in the great pond in that Park, when a pike made a dart at it, and he had but just time to withdraw it.
A gentleman (Major Payne) now residing at Weybridge, in Surrey, informed me, that, walking one day by the side of the river Wey, near that town, he saw a large pike in a shallow creek. He immediately pulled off his coat, tucked up his shirt-sleeves, and went into the water to intercept the return of the fish to the river, and to endeavour to throw it upon the bank by getting his hands under it. During this attempt, the pike, finding he could not make his escape, seized one of the arms of the gentleman, and lacerated it so much that the wound is still very visible.
The digestion of the pike is so rapid, that, in a few hours, not a single bone of a roach which it has swallowed can be discovered. This may account for the fact of a pike, who has gorged himself to the full, holding a small fish in his mouth whilst the digestion of his previously taken prey has been going on, and swallowing it as soon as that process had been effected.
The rapid growth of some fish is very extraordinary. I saw three pikes taken out of a pond in Staffordshire belonging to the present Sir Jervoise Clark Jervoise, two of which weighed thirty-six pounds each, and the other thirty-five pounds. The pond was fished every seven years, and, supposing that store pike of six or seven pounds weight were left in it, the growth of the pike in question must have been at the rate of at least four pounds a year.
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