your welcome Bev, glad you asked, because its not something I'd ever speculated about, despite having raised pigeons when I was young and sung the song. Sometimes you can learn just as much answering a question as you can by asking it. ( I've now learned more about gall bladders than I ever cared to know). I just considered that doves and pigeons were (erroneously) considered sweet tempered and never connected the dots to realize that their temperment was once considered the result of their anatomy. Then again, it's probably a good thing that ostriches are not considered a symbol of peace; they are not as cute and too many people wrongly believe that they stick their head in the ground when danger threatens.

I also found out that horses don't have gall bladders either. I'll try to remember that fact the next time I believe that one has "deliberately" stepped on my foot.