DOMESTIC PIGEONS 43 



black marks in all the breeds, both when kept pure and when 

 crossed; — and lastly, the mongrel offspring being perfectly 

 fertile ; — from these several reasons, taken together, we may 

 safely conclude that all our domestic breeds are descended 

 from the rock -pigeon or Columba livia with its geographical 

 sub-species. 



In favour of this view, I may add, firstly, that the wild C. 

 livia has been found capable of domestication in Europe and 

 in India ; and that it agrees in habits and in a great number 

 of points of structure with all the domestic breeds. Sec- 

 ondly, that, although an English carrier or a short-faced 

 tumbler differs immensely in certain characters from the 

 rock-pigeon, yet that, by comparing the several sub-breeds of 

 these two races, more especially those brought from distant 

 countries, we can make, between them and the rock-pigeon, 

 an almost perfect series; so we can in some other cases, but 

 not wath all the breeds. Thirdly, those characters which are 

 mainly distinctive of each breed are in each eminently vari- 

 able, for instance the wattle and length of beak of the carrier, 

 the shortness of that of the tumbler, and the number of tail- 

 feathers in the fantail ; and the explanation of this fact will 

 be obvious when we treat of Selection. Fourthly, pigeons 

 have been watched and tended with the utmost care, and 

 loved by many people. They have been domesticated for 

 thousands of years in several quarters of the world ; the ear- 

 liest known record of pigeons is in the fifth Egyptian dy- 

 nasty, about 3000 B.C., as was pointed out to me by Professor 

 Lepsius ; but Mr. Birch informs me that pigeons are given 

 in a bill of fare in the previous dynasty. In the time of the 

 Romans, as we hear from Pliny, immense prices were given 

 for pigeons; "nay, they are come to this pass, that they can 

 reckon up their pedigree and race." Pigeons were much 

 valued by Akber Khan in India, about the year 1600; never 

 less than 20,000 pigeons were taken with the court. "The 

 monarchs of Iran and Turan sent him some very rare birds;" 

 and, continues the courtly historian, "His Majesty by cross- 

 ing the breeds, which method was never practised before, has 

 improved them astonishingly." About this same period the 

 Dutch were as eager about pigeons as were the old Romans. 

 The paramount importance of these considerations in ex- 



