DOMESTIC PIGEONS 37 



hound, the bull-dog, pug-dog, or Blenheim spaniel, etc. — so 

 unlike all wild Canidae — ever existed in a state of nature? 

 It has often been loosely said that all our races of dogs 

 have been produced by the crossing of a few aboriginal spe- 

 cies ; but by crossing we can only get forms in some degree 

 intermediate between their parents ; and if we account for 

 our several domestic races by this process, we must admit 

 the former existence of the most extreme forms, as the 

 Italian greyhound, bloodhound, bull-dog, etc., in the wild 

 state, IMoreover, the possibility of making distinct races by 

 crossing has been greatly exaggerated. ^lany cases are on 

 record, showing that a race may be modified by occasional 

 crosses, if aided by the careful selection of the individuals 

 which present the desired character ; but to obtain a race 

 intermediate between two quite distinct races, would be very 

 difficult. Sir J, Sebright expressly experimented with this 

 object and failed. The offspring from the first cross be- 

 tween two pure breeds is tolerably and sometimes (as I have 

 found with pigeons) quite uniform in character, and every- 

 thing seems simple enough ; but when these mongrels are 

 crossed one with another for several generations, hardly 

 two of them are alike, and then the difficulty of the task 

 becomes manifest. 



BREEDS OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON, THEIR DIFFERENCES 



AND ORIGIN 



Believing that it is always best to study some special 

 group, I have, after deliberation, taken up domestic pigeons. 

 I have kept every breed which I could purchase or obtain, 

 and have been most kindly favoured with skins from several 

 quarters of the world, more especially by the Hon. W. Elliot 

 from India, and by the Hon. C. Murray from Persia. Many 

 treatises in different languages have been published on pig- 

 eons, and some of them are very important, as being of con- 

 siderable antiquity. I have associated with several eminent 

 fanciers, and have been permitted to join two of the London 

 Pigeon Clubs. The diversity of the breeds is something as- 

 tonishing. Compare the English carrier and the short-faced 

 tumbler, and see the wonderful difference in their beaks. 



