100 THE IMPOETANCE OF BIRD LIFE 



but a glance at the progression of distances tra- 

 versed through the medium of that instinct shows 

 it to be an accomplished fact. From a few hun- 

 dred miles, the birds have been bred in a single 

 century to find their way over a stretch of nearly 

 seventeen hundred. The instinct to return 

 straight home to their cote, be it a thousand miles 

 off, had, in 1918, a much* firmer grip on the bird 

 than it had in 1818. This homing ability is of 

 course the all-important factor in " flying." The 

 breeder, therefore, uses as parents of his flock 

 only those birds which have flown fast and homed 

 from afar. 



The pigeon-loft should be large and roomy, and 

 it must be fitted with a trap-door leading to the 

 outside. This is contrived in such a manner that 

 the bird may freely enter, but finds its exit barred. 

 Training is begun when the youngsters are 

 about three months old. Their first flight is from 

 a place half a mile distant from the loft. The 

 next course is one mile, then two miles, and by 

 easy stages up to fifty miles. Once assured that 

 the birds will cover this distance without getting 

 lost, the trainer increases it to seventy-five and 

 then to a hundred miles, and so on until the maxi- 

 mum distance required is reached. Young individ- 

 uals, as a rule, are seldom flown over courses of 

 more than 300 miles, but birds of the year have 

 covered the 1000-mile distance. 



During transportation from the loft the con- 



