What is the origin of the term "pigeonhole"?

[brentspeak]

I was thinking about this the other day after reading a Tom Tomorrow cartoon on the topic of Joe Lieberman. The first panel has a grocery clerk asking Joe, "Paper or plastic?" and Joe responding, "I refuse to be pigeonholed."

So I understand what the term means, but why "pigeon"-hole? Why not "sparrowhole", or "blue-jayhole"? I have included a picture of a pigeon for reference.

[Deja Q]

1. Well, if it's about a bird and a hole, why ask why?

I imagine it had to do in the day when pidgeons were numerous and some guy forced them to walk into a hole where they were collected then turned into dinner...

[Gormy Cuss]

2. Dunno.

Perhaps the answer is out there on the internets.

[Vorta]

3. It used to be "don't bunghole me", but then some of us like that, so they changed it,. eom

[Vorta]

4. useful link

http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/sayingsp.htm

[deucemagnet]

5. The term refers to "pigeonholes" in desks.

Old-style rolltop desks had "pigeonholes" (resembling those in post #2) for storing papers. When congress chose to ignore a bill, it was said to be "pigeonholed", in other words, it was stuck away in a dark recess in the desk, never to be considered again.

http://www.answers.com/topic/pigeonholing

[Ptah]

6. From etymonline.com

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pigeon

pigeon
1211, from O.Fr. pijon "young dove," probably from V.L. *pibionem,
dissimilation from L.L. pipionem "squab, young chirping bird" (3c.), acc. of L.
pipio "chirping bird," from pipire "to peep, chirp," of imitative origin.
Modern spelling is from later Fr. pigeon. Replaced culver (O.E. culufre,
from V.L. *columbra, from L. columbula) and native dove.
Pigeonhole (1577) was originally a small recess for pigeons to nest in.
The verb sense of "label mentally" is from 1870.
Pigeon-toed first recorded 1801 (of horses).