Seasonable from April to September, but in the greatest perfection from midsummer to Michaelmas.
THE POUTER PIGEON.—This is a very favourite pigeon, and, without doubt, the most curious of his species. He is a tail strong bird, as he had need be to carry about his great inflated crop, frequently as large and as round as a middling-sized turnip. A perfect pouter, seen on a windy day, is certainly a ludicrous sight: his feathered legs have the appearance of white trousers; his tapering tail looks like a swallow-tailed coat; his head is entirely concealed by his immense windy protuberance; and, altogether, he reminds you of a little "swell" of a past century, staggering under a bale of linen. The most common pouters are the blues, buffs, and whites, or an intermixture of all these various colours. The pouter is not a prolific breeder, is a bad nurse, and more likely to degenerate, if not repeatedly crossed and re-crossed with Irish stock, than any other pigeon: nevertheless, it is a useful bird to keep if you are founding a new colony, as it is much attached to its home, and little apt to stray; consequently it is calculated to induce more restless birds to fettle down and make themselves comfortable. If you wish to breed pouters, you cannot do worse than intrust them with the care of their own eggs.
ROAST PIGEONS.
974. INGREDIENTS.—Pigeons, 3 oz. of butter, pepper and salt to taste.
Trussing.—Pigeons, to be good, should be eaten fresh (if kept a little, the flavour goes off), and they should be drawn as soon as killed. Cut off the heads and necks, truss the wings over the backs, and cut off the toes at the first joint: previous to trussing, they should be carefully cleaned, as no bird requires so much washing.
[Illustration: ROAST PIGEON.]
Mode.—Wipe the birds very dry, season them inside with pepper and salt, and put about 3/4 oz. of butter into the body of each: this makes them moist. Put them down to a bright fire, and baste them well the whole of the time they are cooking (they will be done enough in from 20 to 30 minutes); garnish with fried parsley, and serve with a tureen of parsley and butter. Bread-sauce and gravy, the same as for roast fowl, are exceedingly nice accompaniments to roast pigeons, as also egg-sauce.
Time.—From 20 minutes to 1/2 hour. Average cost, 6d. to 9d. each.
Seasonable from April to September; but in the greatest perfection from Midsummer to Michaelmas.
THE PIGEON—The pigeon tribe forms a connecting ling between the passerine birds and poultry. They are widely distributed over the world, some of the species being found even in the arctic regions. Their chief food is grain, and they drink much; not at intervals, like other birds, but by a continuous draught, like quadrupeds. The wild pigeon, or stockdove, is the parent whence all the varieties of the domestic pigeon are derived. In the wild state it is still found in many parts of this island, making its nest in the holes of rocks, in the hollows of trees, or in old towers, but never, like the ringdove, on branches. The blue house-pigeon is the variety principally reared for the table in this country, and is produced from our farmyards in great numbers. When young, and still fed by their parents, they are most preferable for the table, and are called squabs; under six months they are denominated squeakers, and at six months they begin to breed. Their flesh is accounted savoury, delicate, and stimulating, and the dark-coloured birds are considered to have the highest flavour, whilst the light are esteemed to have the more delicate flesh.