140 OUR DOMESTIC FOWLS. 



cannot doubt it. Hence, if very long distances 

 are to be achieved, training is requisite ; they 

 must be accustomed by a graduated series of 

 removals, to at least the greater part of the 

 road ; and even then, if a fog obscures their 

 ■way-marks, they are apt to wander and be 

 lost. 



Occasionally we hear of trials of the power 

 of the pigeon (we know not whether the birds 

 are always carriers or not) which are not a 

 little surprising. A given number of birds 

 for example will be turned off in some town in 

 Holland, Belgium, or France, destined for 

 London, or vice versa; we read of the safe 

 arrival of at least the greater number, and of 

 the short space of time in which the journey 

 is accomplished. In such cases, two or three 

 practised birds to take the lead will, no doubt, 

 prove good guides to the rest, which, in their 

 turn, having safely arrived, will guide others. 

 Short distances, however, will easily be per- 

 formed without much training. Our theory 

 is as follows : a carrier pigeon is taken to a 

 distance, say a hundred miles from home, 

 it is turned loose, it mounts to a great eleva- 

 tion, and performs a series of circles, wider 

 and wider still. At home, it has performed 



