We have jackdaws in our chimney - I can hear them in there as I type. Mind
you they are better than the bat or little owl that each came down on different
occasions. The bat we had to net while the owl we trapped under an upside-down
(empty) biscuit barrel. Both flew off once released. The jacks don't drop in -
they drop morning sticks by the sack-load until enough lodge to make a nest.
Pigeons (as in rock doves) prefer barns for nesting - they being the carrier
types which used to mainly be bred for meat and fat. The domesticated rock
doves are normally kept in pigeon lofts. (We used to keep them for show for the
man next door in a loft in our garden. The loft resembled a prison-camp guard
tower and was made for us by our neighbour for his/our pigeons as his wife
refused to have the birds or loft in her garden!
Remembering old photos from pigeon books some of the small boxes used to
transport (2,4,6?) homing pigeons around for sending back messages looked like
the boats pigeon boxes so maybe that is where the name came from. Thinking on
this it would have been a heck of a clever homing pigeon that could home on a
canal boat as it moved round the system!.
To end on a slightly comic note pigeons used to be sent in boxes - parcel
post - as in place on train - it will be collected the other end. The boxes had
to be a very snug fit and I found out why when returning a non-homing homer to
its owner. My (friendly box) had room to spare and when I put the box down the
pigeon decided to jump up and down in it. At this point I had dumped the box on
a windowsill in a bank while cashing a cheque. As I finished my business I
realised that all noise in the bank had ceased and all eyes were staring behind
me. It was the box - which was now silently jumping up and down on the
windowsill! Keeping a stiff upper lip I collected the box and marched out
before dashing round the corner into the station. I later heard that the pigeon
arrived intact - it being worth some few hundred pounds at stud.
David Cragg
in Smithett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Maybe is was a nice warm place for pigeons to settle once the boat
has
stopped (they certainly seem to like house chimneys for that reason). They
would then be sitting targets for a catapult, giving the boatman a great
free dinner.
Robin
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