168 NATURAL HISTORY. 



be ri, 7 12,000 bushels per day. Their breeding-places are 

 large forests, sometimes fifty miles long by four or five 

 wide, in which every tree has from fifty to a hundred 

 nests. 



274. The flight of the Pigeon is very rapid. Pigeons 

 have been killed in New York State with Carolina rice 

 in their crops. Judging by the short time required in 

 them for the process of digestion, it is calculated that 

 these birds must have flown between three and four hund- 

 red miles in six hours, which is over a mile in a minute. 

 The Carrier Pigeon has been known to fly much faster 

 than this nearly one hundred and fifty miles in an hour. 

 Before the invention of the Electric Telegraph this bird 

 was extensively employed in Europe for carrying mes- 

 sages. Some were trained to carry both from and to 

 their residence. The letter was fastened under the wing 

 or to its feet. The feet were bathed in vinegar to keep 

 them cool, lest the bird should stop on the way to bathe. 

 On starting, it rose high in the air, made two or three 

 circular sweeps, and then darted off like an arrow for its 

 place of destination. 



275. The other six families are styled commonly the 

 true Gallinaceous birds, from gallus, cock, and gattina, 

 hen. The Curassows are peculiar to the tropical part of 

 South America. Some species are as large as Turkeys, 

 and are much prized as food. They can be easily domes- 

 ticated. 



276. In the Pheasant family the hind toe is placed so 

 high that only the tip touches the ground, and there are 

 also commonly one or more spurs. This family includes 

 the common Fowls, Turkeys, Pheasants, Peacocks, Par- 

 tridges, etc. The common Fowl is more extensively dif- 

 fused than any others, and there are many varieties pro- 

 duced by domestication. Its native country is India, in 

 whose jungles it is found in great numbers living on 

 grain and seeds. The Turkeys are natives of North and 

 Central America. The wattles, which are larger in these 



