344 



AVES 



in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Ptarmigans turn snow white 

 in winter. Pea fowls are oriental birds, domesticated all over the 

 world. 



There are four distinct species of the jungle fowls ^ all native to 

 the jungles of the Indo-Malayan regions. The domestic fowl has 

 come from the red jungle fowl of this species. The black breasted 

 game fowl ho.?, retained more than the others the original characteris- 

 tics of its ancestors. The most different from the primitive is the 

 Japanese tosa fowl, in which the tail feathers have been known to 

 reach a length of fifteen feet, and also the Cochins, with their short, 

 plump appearance and feathered shanks. (See p. 494, Domesti- 

 cated Animals.) The Greeks were addicted to the sport of cock- 

 and quail-fights. The Chinese and Malays still have quail-fights. 

 (Consult D'A. W. Thompson, " A Glossary of Greek Birds." 

 Oxford, 1895.) 



Order 11. Columbae. (Pigeons, doves.) — The dodos, recently 

 extinct, were large, peculiar looking pigeons. Pictures of them, and 

 their bones, prove them to be odd looking, short, plump with an 

 eagle-like beak and very little plumage. The true pigeons are a 

 . large family widely distributed * The best known are the carrier 



/\ pigeons, rock pigeons and the great crowned pigeon. The rock 

 pigeon or rock dove is the species from which most fancy breeds of 

 domestic pigeons have come. When they are allowed to interbreed 

 freely the offspring revert to the characters of their wild ancestors. 



Homing pigeons were used by the Greeks who probably learned 

 the art of training pigeons from the Persians. The Sultan estab- 

 lished a message system using pigeons, which lasted in Bagdad from 

 1 150 to 1258. Homing pigeons were used in transmitting mes- 

 sages by the Roman general Decimus Julius Brutus who was then 

 besieged by Mark i\.ntony. During the World War the combatants 

 used over five hundred thousand homing pigeons, the American 

 Army utilizing twenty thousand. Our homers are equipped by the 

 Signal Corps with " pigeon whistles " to frighten away hawks. 



The passenger pigeons (Figure 190) once lived in flocks of 

 enormous numbers. Wilson, an early American ornithologist, 

 estimated one flock to include two billion individuals.'* The last 

 passenger pigeon, hatched in the Cincinnati Zoo, died there on 



*A town in Michigan marketed (1869-1870) in two years 15,840,000 pigeons. 

 Hornaday. (Our Vanishing Wild Life.) 



