Evening star., 1945-07-25
This and That
By Charles E. TraceDeu.

Entrance of a pigeon into business
office usually creates some excitement.
Often it affords the workers their only
study of nature while on the job, unless
fellow workers come within the scope
of nature study.
What happens upon the entry depends
upon whether the pigeon is tame or
wild. Some are very well behaved,
moving almost sedately. These are the
trained ones, probably on a trip.
The wild ones are the common pigeons
but even these respond quickly to calm
words and easy motions of approach.
The worst thing that can be done is
for every one to begin running around
as if demon had come in.
Thanks to the modern interest in
nature, this seldom happens; mostly the
bird is regarded with amused looks,
and usually one person takes charge
of the situation.
Often the pigeon will roost for a time
on some high cabinet, as close to the
ceiling as possible.
This is the time to let him alone.
He is getting his bearings. Like most
wanderers, he must take stock of the
situation, look the land over carefully,
and determine what he is to do next.
His mind may be made up for him.
usually, by the proffer of a handful
of food.
In lieu of grain, slice of bread is
good. Care should be taken not to
allow the bird to peck hole out of
the center and then get his head caught
n hoe
in this column.
A container of water, too, will help
the wanderer on his way. Pigeons drink
dlherently from other birds, and it is
interesting to watch them.
With most species, a shallow saucer
is best, when giving drinking water,
but with the pigeon a paper cup or
glass tumbler is better In drinking,
the pigeons bill is immersed to the
nostrils, and the water drawn up in a
continuous draft. No other bird drinks
this way.
There are no more mighty flyers
among birds than the various sorts of
pigeons Even the common city birds
will display those powers, despite their
apparent clumsiness in getting into the
air. Once on the wing, they are great
flyers, vying with smaller birds.
Both. sexes help in building the nest,
which is simple enough affair. Both
take part in incubation and care of
the young. The latter are Matched
naked. They are fed at first by a fluid
secreted in the crop of the adult. Later
the mother feeds them with partially
digested seeds or grains from her crop.
The young pigeon inserts its bill into
the parents mouth, and draws up the
regurgitated food, accompanied by mo-
tions of the body and wings. 1t is a
rather violent looking process.
While pigeons are homogeneous, they
are intensely tickle Their cry is rather
disturbing to some listeners lacking
the subdued beauty of the doves COO.
The terms pigeon and sSoye are synony-
nous. The first comes from the, ....al-
ian, and the second Fl Sm the Dutch.
In common practice to5ay re word
dove is applied to the smaller specimens.
Small or not, the ground dove can
make noise resembling the below of
a bull
Pigeons and doves are far from
peaceful, and are good fighters. Usually
pigeons are we'll behaved when they
visit bird-feeding stations, but they
are not desirable guests where song
birds are fed, and should be driven
away before they come in numbers. One
or two pigeons are all right, but any
number from dozen up tends to be-
come nuisance ct small-bird feeding
station.