404 FANCY PIGEONS. 



This work was first issued in eiglit monthly shilling parts, 

 each containing two coloured plates and woodcuts, and then 

 as above, in one volume, imp. 8vo, pp. 190. The second 

 edition, also in monthly shilling parts, was published from 

 June, 1873, to January, 1874. The book is still being issued 

 by the publishers, but without a date. The author, the well- 

 known naturalist and pigeon fancier, says in the preface : " In 

 compiling the following pages the Editor has endeavoured to 

 produce a Treatise that should not only furnish the amateur 

 of pigeons with a greater amount of practical information on 

 the different varieties than is to be found in any previous 

 volume, but also to treat the whole subject in a more 

 scientific manner than has hitherto been attempted." 



" The Variation of Animals and Plants under 

 Domestication. By Charles Darwin, M.A., F.E-.S., &c. 

 2 vols., 8vo. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1868." 



The great naturalist refers extensively to domestic pigeons, 

 and explains the experiments he made in breeding different 

 kinds together for the purpose of satisfying himself that 

 they all had a common origin. His book contains a great 

 amount of information most interesting to the pigeon fancier. 

 He refers to a Persian Treatise on Pigeons written by Sayzid 

 Mohammed Musari, who died in 1770, which Sii' Walter Elliot 

 discovered when in Madras, and of which he sent him a 

 translation. I applied to Mr. Darwin for leave to copy this 

 Treatise, but he replied that he was unable to find it in his 

 library, and feared that, as it was in loose sheets, it had been 

 mislaid. I then wi'ote to Sir "Walter Elliot, asking him if he 

 still had the original in Persian. He informed me it was 

 lost, with his library, on the voyage home. 



(1.) "Pigeons: their Varieties, Management, Breed- 

 ing, AND Diseases. By Hugh Piper. London: Groombridge 

 & Sons, 5, Paternoster Row. 1871." Small 8vo, 64 pages. 

 Coloured plate of seven varieties of pigeons. 



(2.) "Pigeons: their Varieties, Management, Breed- 



"i^V 



