TURKISH OR MAWMET PIGEON. 165 



of its superior claim to the title in dispute, as it is 

 the excessive development of this instinctive feeling 

 that urges the Carrier, when transported from its na- 

 tive habitation, even to a distance of many hundred 

 miles, to wing its way back without stop or delay, 

 the moment it is uncaged and set at liberty. Its 

 flight is also very rapid and generally at a high ele- 

 vation, particularly when employed as a messenger, 

 and at a great distance from home. Upon such oc- 

 casions its first essay is to attain a high altitude by 

 a series of circular evolutions. This accomplished, 

 it instinctively darts off in the direction of its native 

 home, as if guided by the compass, and acquainted 

 with the true bearings of the place it seeks to re- 

 gain. 



The pigeon, and we may presume the variety, 

 thus adverted to by MM. Boitard and Corbie, as to 

 it may be referred all the figures depictured in the 

 monuments of the ancient sculptors, representing 

 Venus as attended or drawn in a car by doves, has 

 from the earliest ages been employed as a messenger 

 to convey information between distant points, where 

 unwonted celerity and despatch were required. Thus 

 we read of it as conveying the welcome intelligence 

 of succour and relief to besieged cities, of battles 

 lost or won ; and in the poetry and tales of the East, 

 it is frequently described as the appropriate bearer 

 of a lover's vows to his distant mistress. Even at 

 the present day, it is still employed where extraor- 

 dinary despatch is required, and in Holland, France 



