20 THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES 



are, should yield offspring perfectly fertile inter se, would be rash 

 in the extreme. 



From these several reasons, namely, the improbability of man 

 having formerly made seven or eight supposed species of pigeons 

 to breed freely under domestication — these supposed species being 

 quite unknown in a wild state, and their not having become any- 

 where feral — these species presenting certain very abnormal char- 

 acters, as compared with all other Columbidae, though so like the 

 rock-pigeon in most respects — the occasional reappearance of the 

 blue color and various 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 favor 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. Secondly, that although an 

 English carrier or a short-faced tumbler differs immensely in cer- 

 tain 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 with all the breeds. Thirdly, those characters which are mainly 

 distinctive of each breed are in each eminently variable, for in- 

 stance, the wattle and length of beak of the carrier, the shortness 

 of that of the tumbler, and the number of tail-feathers in the fan- 

 tail: 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 earliest known record of pigeons is in the fifth Egyptian 

 dynasty, 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 crossing the breeds, which method was never prac- 



