Pigeon pie

“ But however far the pigeons might go for food, they always returned to the roosting place at night.
"That means pigeon pie," said Uncle Lance, on receiving Glenn's report. "Everybody and the cook can go. We only have a sweet mast about every three or four years in the encinal, but it always brings the wild pigeons. We'll take a couple of pack mules and the little and the big pot and the two biggest Dutch ovens on the ranch. Oh, you got to parboil a pigeon if you want a tender pie. Next to a fish fry, a good pigeon pie makes the finest eating going. ”

“ Strain the gravy, add the juice of a lemon and a tablespoonful of currant jelly, thickening with browned flour. Boil up and pour over the pigeons.
Wild-Pigeon Pie. ✠
This is made precisely as is quail pie, except that the pigeons are cut into four pieces each, and not stuffed. Parboil and lay in the dish in alternate layers with the bacon and boiled eggs. Make the gravy richer than for the quails, by the addition of a good lump of butter, rolled in flour, stirred in and boiled up to thicken before you put it on the fire. Wild pigeons are usually tougher and leaner than the tame. ”

“ When out riding we used to come on these flocks several miles from home, and knew they were our birds since no one else in that neighbourhood kept pigeons. They were highly valued, especially by my father, who preferred a broiled pigeon to mutton cutlets for breakfast, and was also fond of pigeon- pies. Once or twice every week, according to the season, eighteen or twenty young birds, just ready to leave the nest, were taken from the dovecote to be put into a pie of gigantic size, and this was usually the grandest dish on the table when we had a lot of people to dinner or supper. ”

“ There was nothing else to be had, he said: all other wild birds were over; but if the lads liked pigeon-pie, they might try for one.
Of course, some hours were spent in the woods, by my sons and me. My wife and the girls had the sense to remain at home, or out of range of our fire. I promised the boys not to tell unnecessarily how many birds we brought home; but I may assert the fact that one pigeon will make a pie of that name—the only requisite being plenty of beef-steak, to make out with. ”

“ Beppo had a fine piece of beef to carve, and his master a pair of roasted chickens; but all the rest of the dishes were pies of different kinds of birds—pigeon-pie, snipe-pie, [130] woodcock-pie, poll-parrot-pie, owl-pie, cat-bird-pie, and booby-pie, for a booby is a bird as well as a dunce.
Oh, my goodness! how they did want to dive into these delicious pies with their paws. If they had dared, they would have behaved exactly as most people do on board of steamboats, where they pounce on all the dishes they can reach at once, and empty them pell-mell on their plates. ”

“ What
ailed ye that ye didn't climb a tree and suck a few
pigeon's eggs?
2nd Prince: We were thinking of a pigeon pie.
Ogre: A what!!!
2nd Prince: A pigeon pie.
Ogre: Hurry on then making your pigeon pie!
There are pigeons enough there in the corner, that
a hawk that is my carrier brought me in a while
ago. And there's a pike that was in the lake these
hundred years, an otter is after leaving at my door.
3rd Prince: (Taking a pigeon.) I don't think
this is a right pigeon.
4th Prince: Pigeons in a pie are not the pigeons
that have feathers. ”

“ I have got, my lady, a nice pigeon-pie for dinner, and some very tender mutton. But do you know, my Lady Countess would dine upon nothing but a good dish of fried eggs and bacon, tho' we had some very nice things in the house I'll assure you. I don't say, to be sure, that quality are all fond of the same kinds of victuals; but sometimes it will so happen that pigeons will not be equally plump and delicate as at other times, let us do what we will with them, and the mutton being fed upon old grass, my lady ”

“ They need only be heated up in gravy ready prepared; and forcemeat balls may be fried and added, instead of putting a stuffing into them. If for a [246] pie, let beef steaks be stewed in a little water, and put cold under them. Cover each pigeon with a piece of fat bacon to keep them moist, season as usual, and put in some eggs.—In purchasing pigeons, be careful to see that they are quite fresh: if they look flabby about the vent, and that part is discoloured, they are stale. The feet should be supple: if old the feet are harsh. ”

“ They are very pretty, and very tame. They spend much of the time on the open veranda in front of our house. Some of them are of a dark brown color, some are perfectly white, some are black and white. We shall soon have enough to begin eating pigeon pies, but I suppose we shall be loth to kill the pretty birds. Some of them are of the Carrier pigeon species. We might take them to a good distance from Amoy and they would doubtless find their way home again. The Chinese have a small whistle which they sometimes fasten on the back of the pigeons near the tail. ”

“ Do not roast pigeons unless they are young and tender. After they are well trussed, or tied into shape, tie thin slices of bacon over the breasts, and put a little piece of butter inside each pigeon. Boast them about fifteen minutes; baste them with butter.
Or split the pigeons in two through the back and breast, cover with thin slices of salt pork, and roast them in the oven. Thicken the gravy in the pan with a little cornstarch. Season and moisten with it slices of toast on which the half pigeons will be served. ”

“ Pigeons are great devourers of food, and will eat any kind of grain, such as wheat, barley, oats, peas, beans, vetches, Indian corn, tares, &c. Small beans, called pigeon’s beans, are the best general food for all pigeons. If possible, the peas, beans, or tares given to the birds should be old, as new pulse is apt to disagree, and purge them. Hempseed is very stimulating, and although pigeons are very fond of it, it should be sparingly given.
Pigeons are very fond of lime and salt, and to supply themselves peck out the mortar from between the tiles. ”

“ Take your pigeons, season and stuff them, flat the breast-bone, and truss them up as you would do for baking, dredge them over with a little flour, and fry them in butter, turning them round till all sides be brown, then put them into a stew-pan with as much brown gravy as will cover them, and let them stew whilst your pigeons be enough; then take part of the gravy, an anchovy shred, a little catchup, a small onion, or a shalot, and a little juice of lemon for sauce, pour it over your pigeons, and lay round them forc'd-meat-balls and crisp bacon. Garnish your dish with crisp parsley and lemon. ”

“ How curiously quick is the instinct of birds in finding out their food. Where peas or other favourite grain is sown, wood pigeons and tame pigeons immediately congregate. It is not easy to ascertain from whence the former come, but the house pigeons have often been known to arrive in numbers on a new sown field the very morning after the grain is laid down, although no pigeon-house, from which they could come, exists within several miles of the place. ”

“ And from this feed is supplied to both the male and female bird what is known as pigeon's milk, forming inside of the crop a sort of curd, on which the young pigeon is fed by both father and mother, who supply this food. The young bird is gorged with this food, and in a few days becomes as heavy as the parent bird. ”

“ Its diet is made up of peas, beans, corn, oats, barley and potato, with hemp seed for a special delicacy, while it picks up many other bits of food in its daily flights.
It is wonderful how many kinds of tame pigeons have come from their wild ancestor, the rock-pigeon. Of no other animal except the dog are there so many and it is hard to believe that they all came from one source. ”

“ The second course more than sustains the character of the first. Small browned birds that look like larks, their plump breasts clothed succulently with a counterpane of fat bacon, their tender backs reposing on beds of savoury toast,—stewed pigeon,—a sponge-cake pudding,—baked pears. ”

“ About twice a week, a bath is greatly relished by the birds; but care should be taken not to leave the floor of the loft damp. Old lime and gravel should be sprinkled about. The food of the homing pigeon is not different from that of any other pigeon, and consists chiefly of beans, small gray peas, with now and then, by way of change, a little wheat, tares, rice or Indian corn. ”

“ Feeding. The food of pigeons consists almost wholly of grains and seeds. The principal grains used in America are wheat and corn (usually cracked corn) . Field peas are also used quite extensively. While pigeons will eat the same kinds of ground-grain products as are fed to poultry, pigeon keepers rarely use such foods. They prefer to give a variety of hard grains and seeds. Those who keep large stocks of pigeons often buy separately the feeds which they use, and mix the grains to suit themselves, or feed them in such alternation as seems desirable. ”

“ Cut ten pieces of bread square, or of an oval shape, and about the size of a half pigeon, fry them with a little butter, and place them on a dish. While the bread is frying, put the pigeons in an oven to warm them; place half a pigeon on each slice of bread, or one lapping over the other; have the slices and pigeons so arranged that they fill the dish, leaving only a small space in the middle, into which you pour the sauce; serve the whole hot. ”

“ When the birds are sitting during cold weather, the egg is tucked up under the feathers, as though to support the egg in its position. At such times the pigeon rests on the side of the folded wing, instead of squatting on the nest. During the first few days, after the young is hatched, to guard against the cold, it is, like the egg, concealed under the feathers of the abdomen, the head always pointing forward. In this attitude, the parents, without changing the sitting position or reclining on the side, feed the squab by arching the head and neck down, and administering the food. ”

“ Have a ragout made for them of strong gravy, with artichoke bottoms and onions, seasoning them with the juice of lemons, and lemons diced, truffles, mushrooms, morels, and bacon cut as for lard. Pour the broth into a dish with dried sippets, and, after placing your pigeons, pour on the ragout. Garnish with scalded parsley, lemons, and beet-root.
Pigeons, en compote. No. 1.
The pigeons must be young and white, and the inside entirely taken out. Let none of the heart or liver remain, which is apt to render them bitter. Make some forcemeat of veal, and fill the pigeons with it ”

“ The number of apple, pear, goosberry, plum, pie, and ice-cream stands that line the path are almost incalculable to think of. Pies square, round, and triangular of shape, in all the varied stages of decay, are for sale at a penny a piece. Tarts, cheese cakes, mutton pot-pies, ham pies, suet puddings, whelks, a sort of odorous shell-fish, at half-penny apiece, green gages, and "sandviches" are shouted on every side of us. ”

“ The abundance of pigeons in this part of Egypt is shown by the frequency with which the bird appears on our table. We have broiled pigeon for breakfast, cold pigeon for lunch, and roast pigeon for dinner. We do not have cold pigeon for supper, and probably this can be accounted for by the fact that we do not have any supper at all. They give us a cup of tea and a piece of dry cake in the evening, and it is quite possible that if anybody asked for pigeon he would be accommodated ”

“ Their first feed is a thick, creamy-white excretion produced in the crop of both female and male (pigeon milk or pap) . Pigeons are the only birds both sexes of which produce milk for their young. The young pigeon places it’s bill down the throat of either parent, and the parent in return forces the food into the young one’s throat. This method of feeding is known as “regurgitation.”
45. Identification The identification record of the pigeon is started when the hen lays the egg. Until the time that the youngster leaves the nest compartment, this record is kept on a breeding card (par. 27) . ”