DOMESTIC PIGEONS 89 



decoration, (2) the making of sport, (3) the carry- 

 ing of messages, and (4) food. 



Of the domestic varieties of olden times we 

 know very little. None exist to-day in their ear- 

 liest forms, for all have been lost in the pro- 

 gression of fresher and more modern breeds. The 

 antiquity of a few of our present breeds, however, 

 does extend back to the close of the sixteenth 

 century, and we find the pouter, the fantail, and 

 the jacobin apparently well established at that 

 time. 



To-day there are in existence about two hundred 

 different varieties of domesticated pigeons, but 

 many are merely slight variants from a more 

 staple central breed. Thus, for example, there 

 are a dozen or more strains of fantails and many 

 more of pouters. Of the thirty or so recognized 

 central breeds the fantail, the owls, the Oriental 

 frills, and certain of the tumblers originated in 

 the East. Africa produced the barb and one or 

 two others of minor value. From the United 

 States came the American high-flier, and Europe 

 is responsible for a whole galaxy of breeds. A 

 few of the latter are the Antwerp, the dragoon, 

 carrier, turbit, jacobin, Cumulet, nun, magpie, 

 helmet, the German toy-pigeon, and the giant 

 runt. As may be gathered from the above list 

 of names, the appellation given to a breed 

 generally implies some special ability of the bird. 

 The homer has developed an instinct for homing, 



