How many there are I have no idea; but since they are sacred, their numbers must be ever increasing.

Why they are sacred is something of a mystery.

One story states that the great Enrico Dandolo had carrier-pigeons with him in the East which conveyed the grand tidings of victories to Venice; another says that the same heroic old man was put in possession of valuable strategic information by means of a carrier-pigeon, and on returning to Venice proclaimed it a bird to be reverenced.

There was once a custom of loosing a number of pigeons among the crowd in the Piazza on Palm Sunday.

The birds being weighted floundered downwards and were caught and killed for the pot; but such as escaped were held to have earned their liberty for ever.
[Illustration: THE PRESENTATION FROM THE PAINTING BY TITIAN _In the Accademia_] At night no doubt the pigeons roost among S.Mark's statuary and on convenient ledges in the neighbourhood; by day, when not on the pavement of the Piazza, the bulk of the flock are dotted about among the reliefs of the Atrio, facing S.Mark's.
They have no timidity, but by a kind of honourable understanding they all affect to be startled by the bells at certain hours and the midday gun, and ascend in a grey cloud for a few seconds.
They are never so engaging as when flying double, bird and shadow, against the Campanile.
Their collective cooing fills the air and makes the Piazza's day music.
Venetians crossing the Piazza walk straight on, through the birds, like Moses crossing the Red Sea; the foreigners pick their way.
What with S.Mark's and the pigeons, the Campanile and coffee, few visitors have any time to inquire as to the other buildings of the Piazza.