46 



THE OOLOGIST 



guardian, de facto, of the nest and eggs ; 

 and as the process is performed in many 

 eases by both parents alternately, the male 

 bird is often ealled upon to use his ingenu- 

 ity and loyalty in defending it ; even if the 

 female is sitting, if her partner is within 

 sutnmons, he straightway comes to her as- 

 sistance, and shows by his behavior, in 

 many cases a greater degree of fondness 

 for the family possessions than the female, 

 or is hypocritical about it — and we are 

 slow to conclude that the latter is the case. 

 But though the male is expected when the 

 female is upon the nest, to attend to her 

 wants and olfer his services in case of dan- 

 ger, — which he certainly does in most in- 

 stances with due earnestness and with wliat 

 dexterity he can muster — still, the sitter 

 is really the warden. Now he may be 

 cowardly or the reverse : he may stand his 

 ground and (if the nest has been discover- 

 ed) bravely tight the intruder with bill and 

 claws, or feign injury if the uest is still 

 undiscovered ; or he may only flit about 

 here and there at a safe distance from the 

 enemy. The latter course should not be 

 confounded with the corresponding natural 

 habit of some birds to offer no resistance ; 

 this will presently be considered. 



[CONCLUDED IN OUR FEBRUARY NUMBER.] 



The Voyageur Pigeon. 



Xj^OR the purpose of edifying such of our 

 readers as may be interested in this sub- 

 ject we propose to depart from our usual 

 custom of treating scientific subjects, by 

 giving a brief account, historically, of this 

 famous bird, the Homing or Voyageur 

 Pigeon. 



Since the war between France and Ger- 

 many, none of the feathered species of an- 

 imal life has attracted more universal at- 

 tention than the Belgian Voyageur or Hom- 

 ing Pigeon. During that memorable con- 

 test, and while the city of Paris was closely 

 besieged by the German military forces, 

 only by the aid of this trusty messenger bird 



could the Parisians obtain the niDSt mea- 

 ger intelligence of what was occnrring out- 

 side the military lines. By its aid, Paris 

 was fully supplied with information regard- 

 ing all ciu'rent events of the day tliroughout 

 the civilized world, and in particular with 

 reference to the sitnatif)n of the enemy's 

 troops. 



The birds employed in this service were 

 bred within the city of Paris, and were pass- 

 ed beyond the lines by means of balloons, 

 in which were caged a niunber of them ; 

 the balloon being set at liberty, arose and 

 drifted away in its aerial voyage until it 

 should alight aTuong friends of the French, 

 who, imderstanding their mission, would 

 prepare such intelligence as would most in- 

 terest the pent-up denizens of the beleagued 

 city, attach it to the bird and set him at 

 liberty. On gaining its freedom, it took 

 inunediate flight for home. 



It was reported at the tiuu', that mess- 

 ages equal in the amount of matter to a 

 whole page of the largest New York daily 

 newspaper were transmitted by a single 

 bird. It was by the aid of photography 

 that this was made possible. These lengthy 

 dispatches were prepared and reduced un- 

 til the whole would cover no more space 

 than the palm of the hand, and were then 

 transferred to tissue paper, which was com- 

 pactly rolled and inserted in a quill ; this 

 was then fastened to a central tail feather 

 of the bird, who faithfully delivered it to 

 his owner. It was then, by the aid of the 

 magnifying glass, read and published to the 

 people. So effectual did this source of in- 

 telligence become, that the Germans offered 

 large rewards for the capture of one of these 

 birds carrying contraband news. 



Before the days of the telegraph, it is re- 

 ported that large numbers of Homing Pig- 

 eons were employed by the Rothschilds in 

 carrying from J^ondou to the Continent the 

 state of the money market at that city, 

 which intelligence was used by them in 

 their stock operations throughout Europe, 

 and that immense fortunes were realized 

 by them, based solely upon the information 

 derived in this way. 



