perhaps ori^Miially used for Hying, now is useless for that purpose and is kept 

 for exhiljition only. It is a large bird, with extremely long neck and legs, and 

 carries a Inige mass of flesh about the eyes and on the beak. This misuse of 

 names has caused much of the credit due the true homer to be given a pigeon 

 which would not home from a distance of a mile. 



Many misunderstandings have arisen as to the homing abilities of the war- 

 pigeon. Many persons apjx^ar to believe that it is merely necessary to whisper 

 a few directions in the bird's ear, toss it into the air, and watch it strike out for 

 the destination indicated. Other fancies, still wider of the truth, are numerous. 

 There is nothing supernatural about the homer. It simply has a strongly devel- 

 oped love of home, a wonderful sense of direction, and the strength and courage 

 to return to its loft when released at a distance. 



Sense of direction is strongly developed in most birds. We have only to 

 consider the marvelous migration flights of many species to realize that this is 

 true. In domestic pigeons this sense, doubtless native to the wild rock-dove, 

 from which they are descended, has degenerated through countless generations 

 of life in captivity. Only in the homer has it been retained and magnified by 

 long-continued breeding and selection for this point alone. 



All sorts of theories have been advanced as to how a homer finds its way, 

 extraordinary sight, electrical influences, and so on, and so on. It would seem, 

 however, that it is simply that mysterious sense direction, common to all birds, 

 strengthened and developed by "the intensive training to which the young homer 

 is subjected," One important part of this is, that, from the very first, the bird 

 learns well its home surroundings. To continue: 



When free flying is begun, four hundred miles is the greatest distance birds 

 of the year usually are asked to accomplish, but exceptional youngsters occa- 

 sionally have done six hundred. Five hundred miles is the most popular long- 

 distance race for old birds, but contests up to 1,000 miles are flown yearly. 

 Eight hundred miles were accomplished in one day by a famous bird, but dis- 

 tances over five hundred miles usually require more than a single day. 



The speed at which homing pigeons fly is one of the first questions that 

 comes to the mind of the inquiring layman. This varies greatly with the distance. 

 the shorter distances naturally being flown in much faster time. Flights of one 

 hundred miles with a favoring wind, often are made at the rate of a mile a 

 minute, or even better. Recent tests under the supervision of the Signal Corps 

 showed that held messages sent by means of homing pigeons were delivered in 

 much shorter time than by automobile or motorcycle. 



The longest oflicial distance flown by a homing pigeon was a flight from 

 Denver, Colorado, to Springfield, Massachusetts. 1,689 miles. A little more than 

 twenty-three days were required for this feat, the bird flying only by day, 

 gleaning its food from fields and poultry yards as it came. 



The fastest time for 1.000 miles is one day and eleven hours, a truly remark- 

 able performance. This bird, rejoicing in the name of "Bullet," still lives in 



933 



