Dutiful child, constant lover, wise parent

SFACC Small Animal volunteer and rat rescuer Michelle very sweetly gave me the present of a book called Pigeons by Barbara Allen.



In it, I found my favorite quote about pigeons.

"The pigeon,' said Archimedes, "is a kind of Quaker. She dresses in grey. A dutiful child, a constant lover, and a wise parent, she knows, like all philosophers, that the hand of every man is against her. She has learned throughout the centuries to specialize in escape. No pigeon has ever committed an act of aggression nor turned upon her persecutors; but no bird, likewise, is so skilled in eluding them... Vigilant, powdery, odorous and loosefeathered- so that dogs object to take them in their mouths- armoured against pellets by the padding of these feathers, the pigeons coo to one another with true love, nourish their carefully hidden children with true solicitude, and flee from the aggressor with true philosophy... They are loving individualists surviving against the forces of massacre only by wisdom in escape." (excerpted from T. H. White, The Sword in the Stone)