Gentle creatures

Two doves in a tree

Before I read Andrew D. Bleckman's 2006 book, Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird, I would have called the gentle birds doves who frequently visit our back yard (usually ten or twelve at a time). I spotted two of them this morning in the trees behind our house (about seventy-five yards from my lens).

Although a pigeon and a dove are the same bird, the more delicate members of the family are called doves, while the seemingly less graceful members of Columbidae are also called pigeons..."Dove" has come to mean petite and pure. Colloquial usage of the word "pigeon," on the other hand, emphasizes the bird's docile nature and places it in a negative light. "Stool pigeon" is synonymous with stooge, and to be "pigeonholed" is to be arbitrarily stereotyped in a disparaging manner....
    Despite this linguistic bias, the unassuming pigeon is truly special. It doesn't live in trees but prefers nesting on rocky ledges (although a window ledge will do just fine)...It breeds enthusiastically in captivity and is naturally gregarious, enjoying the company of its own kind.... [pp. 7-8]

If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men. –St. Francis [ibid., p.i]