THE CARRIER PIGEON. 273 



■with peas, it consumed about the same weight Hence we 

 may easily form some idea of the enormous consumption of a 

 large flight. Supposing one Pigeon to feed regularly at the 

 above rate, its annual average supply would amount to about 

 fifty pounds in weight — a serious consumption of grain when 

 large numbers are concerned. 



"When noticing the flight of birds, the rapidity of these, 

 and of our trained Carrier Pigeons, was alluded to (see p. 73). 

 The Passenger Pigeon is particularly adapted for speed, having 

 a light active body, furnished with long wings, in which the 

 first quill-feather is equal in length to the rest, a sure indica- 

 tion of that rapid and long-continued flight which they are 

 known to possess. This faculty, in addition to the possibility 

 of training that particular species, the Carriers, to return with- 

 out deviation or delay to places from whence they had been 

 removed, was, from very early days, turned to good account. 

 We learn from an ancient historian, Diodorous Siculus, that 

 above two thousand years ago they were used as conveyers of 

 intelligence ; and about five hundred years ago, relays of 

 Carrier Pigeons formed part of a telegraphic system, adopted 

 by the Turks. Kegular chains of posts were established, con- 

 sisting of high towers, between thirty and forty miles asunder, 

 provided with Pigeons, and sentinels stood there, constantly 

 on the watch, to secure the intelligence communicated by the 

 birds as they arrived, and to pass it on by means of others. 

 The note was written on a thin slip of paper, enclosed in a 

 very small gold box, almost as thin as the paper itself, sus- 

 pended to the neck of the bird ; the hours of arrival and 

 departure were marked at each successive tower, and for greater 

 security a duplicate was always despatched two hours after 

 the first. The despatches were, however, not always enclosed 

 in gold, but merely in paper ; in which case, to prevent the 

 letters being defaced by damp, the legs of the Pigeons were 

 first bathed in vinegar, with a view to keep them cool, so that 

 they might not settle to drink, or wash themselves on the way, 

 which in that hot climate they were often doing. 



We find the prophet Isaiah speaking of Pigeons " flying as 

 a cloud ; " and constant allusions are made to their prodigious 



