REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
The first is, as we have said, the Common House Pigeon, differing 
slightly from the Wild, which almost exclusively supports the popu- 
lation of pigeon-breeders ; this is sometimes called the Blue Rock. 
It is only a modification of the Wild Rock-dove ; in form it is, how- 
ever, more slight, while the plumage is prettier. It is one of the most 
fruitful species. 
The Pouter Pigeon owes its name to the faculty which it possesses 
of inflating its crop to an immense size by the introduction of air. 
This peculiarity often destroys them; indeed, when feeding their 
young, they find so much difficulty in causing the seeds which they 
have swallowed to reascend into their beaks, that they contract a 
malady which is frequently fatal. 
The Roman Pigeons, thus named because they are very common 
in Italy, are easily recognised from the circle of red which surrounds 
their eyes. 
The Swift Pigeon is of smail size, its flight is light and rapid, and 
its fecundity very great. 
The Carrier Pigeons belong to this race. They are celebrated for 
their attachment to their birthplace, or to the spot that contains 
their offspring, and for the intelligence which enables them to regain 
their native countries from whatever distance. ‘Transport them miles 
from their homes, even in a well-closed basket then give them their 
liberty, and they will return, without the slighcest hesitation, to the 
place from which they were taken. This valuable faculty has long 
been utilised, especially in the East. The  ‘omans made use of 
Pigeons as messengers. Pliny says that this means was employed by 
Brutus and Hirtius to concert together during the siege of a town by 
Mark Antony. At the siege of Leyden, in 1574, the Prince of 
Orange employed Carrier Pigeons to carry on a correspondence with 
the besieged town, which he succeeded in freeing. ‘The Prince, to 
mark his acknowledgment of the services rendered by these saga- 
cious birds, wished them to be fed with strawberries, and their bodies 
to be embalmed after death. We learn from Pierre Belon, the 
naturalist, that in his time navigators from Egypt and Cyprus took 
pigeons upon their galleys, and liberated them when they had arrived 
at the port of destination, in order to announce to their families their 
safe journey. In our century they have been made use of for 
similar purposes. The fluctuations of the Bourse were for a long time 
sent from Paris to Brussels by means of Carrier Pigeons.* 
The Tumbler Pigeon owes its name to its curious manner of flying. 
* In the late siege of Paris they were constantly used.— ED, 
