164 



TURKISH OR MAWMET PIGEON. 



Columba Turcica. 



PLATE XVI. 



Columba Turcica vulgaris. Pigeon Turc ordinaire, Mo- 

 nog, des Pig. Domest. p. 188 Carrier Pigeon. 



IN England, the pigeon generally known by the 

 name of the Carrier, appears to belong to this race, 

 as it possesses all the characteristics of the Columba 

 Turcica of authors, viz. great size, a bill tuberculated 

 at the base, and the eyes surrounded with a broad 

 circle of naked red skin, elevated tarsi, and wings 

 reaching nearly to the end of the tail. This name, 

 however, according to the authors of the " Mono- 

 graphic des Pigeons Domestiques," is improperly ap- 

 plied, and ought to be appropriated to a very differ- 

 ent variety, which they designate in their interest- 

 ing work as the Columba tabellaria, or race of " Pi- 

 geons volans." This, in contradistinction to the 

 Turkish variety, is of small size, without tuberculat- 

 ed nostrils, and the circle around the eye small and 

 narrow. In point of fecundity and productiveness, 

 it surpasses any other race, and shews a still greater 

 attachment to the place of its birth, a fact in proof 



