248 THE PASSENGER PIGEON IN PENNSYLVANIA 



the birds. After speaking of Smerles, "Owls," Dra- 

 goons, Horsemen, Skinnums, Cumulets, etc., he pro- 

 ceeds : 



From this seeming chaos, after many vicissitudes, 

 the racing homer, unequaled in speed, endurance and 

 intehigence, finally was evolved. These three charac- 

 ters have remained the great objectives of the breeder, 

 and color, markings, and other points commonly sought 

 among domestic pigeons have been ignored. Many 

 derivatives, bred for exhibition points only, have risen 

 to popularity, but the racer, not always uniform in type 

 and color, though never failing in courage and love of 

 home, still remains the pigeon of pigeons. 



Having proved its value as a flier in Belgium, the 

 newly evolved breed was quickly imported into Eng- 

 land, and later was brought to America. The sport of 

 pigeon-racing soon became popularized, and its devo- 

 tees now number thousands. In America hundreds of 

 races are flown yearly under the auspices of local clubs 

 and the larger national organizations with which they 

 are affiliated. With the overrunning of Belgium by 

 the German hordes of pickers and stealers, the great 

 majority of the famous studs of racing pigeons were 

 seized and sent to Germany. However, the blood of 

 these great strains is widely spread and strongly cher- 

 ished in England and in America, so that they will not 

 become lost to civilization. 



Through a confusion of names, which has become 

 widespread, the homing pigeon is almost invariably re- 

 ferred to in news reports as the ^'carrier." He is a 



