242 



OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



FIG. 187. Swiss Mondaine 

 Pigeon 1 



of the human race is not known. It is probable that pigeons 

 were domesticated before the Aryan migrations began, and also 

 that the domestic stock was sometimes taken by Aryan colonists 

 to their new homes ; but it is equally 

 probable that at various times in the his- 

 tory of the earth people coming to new 

 lands domesticated some of the wild rock 

 pigeons which they found there. 



Improved varieties. Common pigeons 

 are much alike the world over, and have 

 changed little from the wild race, but in 

 many different parts 



of the Old World the making of improved 

 varieties began thousands of years ago, and 

 in some places peculiar types were developed 

 which were little known elsewhere until 

 modern times. The varieties of the pigeon 

 are so numerous that it is practically impos- 

 sible to make a complete list of them. At 

 the large shows in this country, classes are 

 made for more than one 

 ;^fc hundred fifty named vari- 



W eties, in about forty breeds. In many of these 



breeds there are eight or ten principal color 

 varieties, and an indefinite number of less 

 popular varieties, specimens of which com- 

 pete in a miscellaneous competition in what 

 is called the " any other variety class." There 

 are probably nearly three hundred varieties 

 of pigeons bred in America and England. On 

 the continent of Europe the number is very 

 much greater. The Triganica pigeon has one hundred fifty-two 

 color varieties, and it is said that another variety in Germany, 



1 Photograph from Elmer E. Rice, Boston, Massachusetts. 



FIG. iSS. Splashed 

 Homer 1 



FIG. 189. Blue-barred 

 Homer 1 



