THE CARRIER riCEOX. ^371 



sent, with the letter attached to its wing-. At the instant of being let loose, its flight 

 was directed, at an amazing height, to its home. Ey a remarkable instinct it darted 

 onwards in a straight line to the very sjiot from whence it was taken ; but how it 

 could direct its flight so exactly, is a problem which wo shall find it not very easy 

 to solve. 



"It must not be supposed," says Mr. "W. C. L. Martin, " that this pecidiar breed of 

 pigeons is exclusively fitted for the purposes above described ; any breed of good powers 

 of flight wlU do, but this bird, from its swiftness on the wing, and its muscular energy, 

 is doubtless superior ; nevertheless, old birds, if not kept in active training, are heavy, 

 and disinclined to very long flights. We once purchased a very young pair of black 

 carriers, and having shut them up for a few weeks, gave them their liberty ; after several 

 circles high in the air, they started off in one direction, straight as an arrow, far out of 

 sight. 



" We gave them up for lost, and having paid a considerable sum for tlieni, were not a 

 little annoyed. This happened about eleven, a.m. At about four, r.M., while on the 

 look-out, we heard a whirring of wiugs, and immediately the two birds settled on their 

 dove-cote, and were eager for food and drink. Let it be remembered, that they had 

 never been previously at liberty, and yet, after a voluntary excursion of many miles, they 

 returned with unerring precision to their home ; this was repeated so often till they 

 began to breed, that it gave us no concern respecti:ig their safety, the more especially as 

 they flew above gun-shot reach. 



" Is it by the eye that these birds travel from long distances to their home ? We 

 cannot doubt it. Hence, if very long distances are to be achieved, training is requisite ; 

 they must be accustomed, by a graduated series of removals, to at least the greater part of 

 the road ; and even then, if a fog obscm-es their waymarks, they are apt to wander and 

 be lost. 



" Short distances, however, mil easily be performed without much training. Our 

 theory is as follows : a carrier pigeon is taken to a distance, say, a hundred miles from 

 home ; it is turned loose, it mounts to a great elevation, and performs a series of circles, 

 wider and wider still. At home it has performed the same. Now from any part of the 

 circle, let it perceive an object which, while performing its circles at home, has caught its 

 eye — it has at once a clue to the right direction ; that object attained, a succession of 

 others familiar to it are rapidly passed, till its home greets its keen and long-surveying 

 powers of vision." 



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