334 Birds. 



" Led by what chart, transports the timid Dove, 

 The wreaths of conquest, or the vows of love V 

 Say through the clouds what compass points her flight ? 

 Monarchs have gazed, and nations blessed the sight. 

 Pile rocks on rocks, bid woods and mountains rise, 

 Eclipse her native shades, her native skies ; 

 'Tis vain ! through ether's pathless wilds she goes, 

 And lights at last where all her cares repose. 

 Sweet bird, thy truth shall Harlem's walls attest, 

 And unborn ages consecrate thy nest." KOGERS. 



The Carrier Pigeon is easily distinguished from the 

 other varieties by a broad circle of naked white skin 

 round the eyes, by the large fleshy wattle at the base of 

 its bill, and by its dark blue or blackish colour. 



It would be as fruitless as unnecessary to attempt to 

 describe all the varieties of the Tame Pigeon ; for human 

 art has so much altered the colour and figure of this 

 bird, that pigeon-fanciers, by pairing a male and female 

 of different sorts, can, as they express it, " breed them 

 to a feather." Hence we have the various names of 

 Carriers, Tumblers, Jacobins, Croppers, Pouters, Bunts, 

 Turbits, Shakers, Fantails, Owls, Nuns, &c., all of which 

 may, at first, have accidentally varied from the Kock- 

 dove, and these have been further improved by crossing, 

 food, and climate. An actual post system, in which 



Eigeons were the messengers, was established by the 

 ultan Noureddin Mahmoud, which lasted about a cen- 

 tury, and ceased in 1258, when Bagdad fell into the 

 hands of the Moguls. 



