Ask a stranger in the street what they hate, and the answer is bound to be 'pigeons'.
Known commonly as 'rats of the skies', pigeons are infamous for their harbouring of diseases, making messes all over statues, and generally getting in the way and flapping around annoyingly.

However, paint a pigeon white, and all is forgiven: everyone suddenly loves it - because a white pigeon is known as a dove, the bird of peace!

Doves have many uses: they are set free at many events, as a symbol of harmony.
Magicians stuff doves down their trousers for the purposes of trickery.
And setting a dove on fire is a cheap alternative to a firework.

Doves don't tend to live very long, since they have tiny hearts, and because they don't much like being stuffed into trousers or set on fire. Average dove life expectancy is roughly five years.

But the oldest dove lived to the ripe old age of seven!
This is because it was a caged dove: it lived in a cage.

It was called Geoffrey.