STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 



177 



€^t €min |Jigrnir. 



ARRiER PIGEONS fly with astonisli- 

 ing rai^iditj. Tliey go through 

 the air a gi-eat deal faster than the 

 cars can run on a rail-road. And the 

 most wonderful thing of all is, that they 

 can remain so long on the wing, without 

 stopping to rest. There are several societies in 

 Europe which are formed for the purpose of 

 raising and training these birds. The members 

 of these societies take a great deal of pains in 

 teaching the pigeons. Sometimes they offer 

 great prizes to those whose pigeons are swiftest 

 on the wing. A few months ago, a number of 

 carrier pigeons were taken from Brussels to 

 Lyons, to be loosed, so that they would fly 

 back to Brussels. One of the societies let 

 loose sixty-three pigeons, at five o'clock in the 

 Prizes were to be o;iven to the own- 



