Not a single "coo" would
he give, and to his everlasting disgrace finally gently but firmly pushed
her off the ledge. It was plain she had no charms for him! After one or two
further attempts, which ended in the same way, Paolo gave up and allowed
Chico to manage his own courting.
When his gentle, beseeching cooing failed to attract, he resorted to bolder
methods, flying about the Square, and lingering longer than was his wont
among neighboring nests, until he chanced upon a pigeon that took his
fancy.
She was a modest little thing, soft drab in color, and not as strikingly
marked as he, but she was popular with the birds about, and Chico had to
fight one or two lusty rivals before he won her for himself.
The children watched it all with fascinated interest, and when one morning
they found her by his side on the ledge outside his nest, they were fairly
beside themselves with delight.
All day long they perched together, billing and cooing to their hearts'
content, "the prettiest sight in Venice," as all agreed who saw them.
"Coo-oo," he would begin, and she would answer softly. Then they would join
in "Coo-oos coo-oo-oo. Ruk-at-a-coo, coo-oo."
Sometimes he would playfully ruffle her feathers, and she would respond by
turning to him so coquettishly that they would touch their bills together,
so the hours would as they billed and cooed in their love-making.
It was Maria who named the dainty little mate, calling her Pepita, from the
first time she saw her by Chico's side.
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