muscular strength. The one yonder stop, I'll catch him--is one of my
best flyers. Try to lift his pinions."

"Heaven knows the little thing has marrow in its bones! How the tiny
wing pinches; the falcons are not much stronger."

"It's a carrier-dove too, that finds its way alone."

"Why do you keep no white tumblers? I should think they could be watched
farthest in their flight."

"Because doves fare like men. Whoever shines very brightly and is seen
from a distance, is set upon by opponents and envious people, and birds
of prey pounce upon the white doves first. I tell you, Captain, whoever
has eyes in his head, can learn in a dove-cote how things come to pass
among Adam and Eve's posterity on earth."

"There is quarrelling and kissing up here just as there is in Leyden."

"Yes, exactly the same, Captain. If I mate an old dove with one much
younger, it rarely turns out well. When the male dove is in love, he
understands how to pay his fair one as many attentions, as the most
elegant gallant shows the mistress of his heart. And do you know what
the kissing means? The suitor feeds his darling, that is, seeks to win
her affection by beautiful gifts. Then the wedding comes, and they build
a nest. If there are young birds, they feed them together in perfect
harmony. The aristocratic doves brood badly, and we put their eggs under
birds of more ordinary breed."

"Those are the noble ladies, who have nurses for their infants."