= '2 BRITISH BIRDS, WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



of great inconvenience to them, consequently they readily take to young birds 

 from other nests, even if several days older, if placed in their own, thus manifesting 

 the strong desire to exercise the maternal instinct which is exhibited by many of 

 the mammalia, such as cats and dogs that are deprived of their own young. 



The colouration of the Rock- Dove is well-known. The plumage may be 

 generally described as blue, with strongly marked black bars across the wings, and 

 another at the termination of the tail, and a distinctly marked white croup or rump, 

 at least in the European races. When bred in confinement, great variations of 

 colour, form, and size occur, and these, by careful selection, can be propagated 

 by the breeder so as to raise the great variety of races with which Pigeon fanciers 

 are familiar. 



To naturalists, the most interesting of these is undoubtedly that known as 

 the Homing Pigeon, which, beyond being larger in size, of varied colours, and 

 somewhat more massive in the head and beak, does not differ greatly from the 

 wild original. Its powers of flight have, however, been developed by selection to 

 the highest possible degree, only the strongest and swiftest of the birds being 

 bred from, the others being lost in their training, so that an imitation of the 

 process of natural selection has resulted in the production of birds capable of 

 taking extremely long flights, combined with a very high velocity. During the 

 year 1897, many birds in competition have raced from Thurso, the extreme north 

 of Scotland, a distance exceeding five hundred miles, and this has been accomplished 

 by them in one day ; others have also come from the Shetland Islands, a still 

 greater distance. 



The flight of the Homing Pigeon is perhaps the only one which has been 

 accurately measured for long distances. When there is no wind, it may be taken 

 possibly to average nearly forty miles per hour, the pace for long distances varying 

 as the wind is in favour of or against the progress of the bird. The possession 

 of any distinct " homing instinct," as it is called, is repudiated by all intelligent 

 fanciers. The birds have to be made acquainted with the contour of the country 

 over which they have to fly, and are trained in gradually increasing stages, or 

 there would be no certainty of their return to their homes. Moreover, they cannot 

 fly in a fog or mist, and never arrive at their home after eight o'clock in the 

 evening. This homing faculty is often confounded with migratory instinct, which 

 is hereditary in the birds possessing it, and has no relation whatever to the trained 

 flight of a Homing Pigeon, which is quite destitute of any migratory instinct 

 whatever. 



