against Nineveh, said, "And Huzzab shall be led away captive, and she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves tabering upon their breasts." Ezekiel, in prophesying the final desolation of Israel, prayed, "But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity."

There are four notes in the mourning song; the first like the sucking breath of a child trying to suppress sobs, followed by three long-drawn tremulous notes that seem especially designed to harrow the human sympathies. They catch you in the heart. "A'gh, coo, coo, coo!" The first note is almost impossible of human reproduction, the other three are easy enough. But it appeals to me that the prophet should have said, "My mourning sounds as a dove," because the truth is that when dove-notes grow simply heait-rcnding in their wavering appeal, if you are where you can see the birds you will find that they are caressing each other in an abandon of pure joy, and their so-called "mourning" cry is the voice of their mating ecstasy.

The ancient Persian poet Attar realized this when he called the wailing cry of the dove "sham sorrow" in his "Bird Parliament:"

"Then from a wood was heard unseen to coo,

The Ring Dove-Yusuf! Yusuf! Yusuf! Yu-'
(For thus her sorrow broke her Note in twain,
And just where broken took it up again)

-suf! Yusuf! Yusuf! Yusuf!'—But one Note,
Which still repeating, she made hoarse her throat :
Till chekt-'O You, who with your idle Sighs
Block up the road of better Enterprise;

Sham Sorrow all, or bad as sham if true,

When once the better thing is come to do.'

Doves and pigeons were the most common and best loved of all birds of Bible lands. They were so numerous that the very poor, who could not afford the usual custom of building cotes for the pigeons, made places in their homes, and wandering tribes could secure all they wanted in wild state. They were the chosen bird for sacrifice along with the best of the flocks, because people were required to part with things for which they cared. An owl, hawk, or raven would not have constituted a sacrifice. These birds were considered nuisances that every one would have been glad to destroy.

In almost all cases where doves are specified for sacrifice it is stated that a "young" bird should be used. This might have been for three reasons. The offering should be young and tender to represent innocence and purity. It might have been that not always old birds could be trapped or netted when wanted, but that the species were so common that the young could be taken from the nest at any time. Again, the law of Moses especially stipulated that a brooding bird should not be disturbed, in order that it might continue reproduction. At any rate, young birds only were used for sacrifice. In the case of the birth of Jesus, Luke recorded that according to the law of Moses, Mary went up to Jerusalem "to offer a sacrifice to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons." Moses specified that in certain cases, if a woman "be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtle-doves or two young pigeons." It is probable that the specifi

cation of doves or pigeons was made because, while the doves migrated, the pigeons remained all the year; so that if doves, which seem to have been slightly preferred, as they were always mentioned first, could not be had, pigeons were at hand in abundance.

Doves were netted, snared, and sold for food and sacrifice as well as for pets. They were articles of commerce, for Matthew wrote that "Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that bought and sold in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves." This statement of Matthew was confirmed by Luke and John, and the act was directly in keeping with what Christ would have done.

Hosea referred to the timidity of these birds in case of attack, and the fact that they showed no disposition to defend themselves when he spoke of a "silly dove, without heart." Again, when he described the ingratitude of Israel to God, he said, "They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria." While instructing the apostles, Christ had thought of the harmless, lovable character of these birds when He cautioned His chosen teachers, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves." Jeremiah commanded the inhabitants of Moab to imitate the characteristics of doves; that is, be innocent, harmless, and trust in the providence of the Lord.

"O

ye inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, And dwell in the rock;

And be like the dove that maketh her nest

In the sides of the hole's mouth."