BIRDS OF THE AIR THE PIGEON. 



I8 7 



back as five hundred years before Christ, the messen- 

 ger pigeon was employed to convey letters between 

 lovers. The letters in those days were tied to the 

 feet ; in these days the message is tied to the tail 

 feathers, as shown in the illustration. The speed of 

 these birds is about fifty miles an hour, in a trip of five 

 hundred miles. The Romans employed messenger pig- 

 eons to convey messages in war. 



