244 OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



no particular value. In a domestic bird the homing instinct or 

 habit is of service because the owner of a bird relies upon it to 

 make the bird return always to the place which he has provided for 

 it, instead of taking shelter elsewhere or remaining where noc- 

 turnal enemies will find it an easy prey. In the domestic land 

 birds the instinct has no further use than this, but in pigeons 

 which, while thoroughly domesticated, retain full power of flight, 

 the development of the homing faculty makes it possible to 



FIG. 192. Muffed Tumblers with " saddle " color pattern. (Photograph from 

 E. R. B. Chapman, Stoneham, Massachusetts) 



use them as a means of communication when it is necessary 

 to transmit short letters with great dispatch. 



It is known that pigeons were used as messengers in war 

 about the beginning of the Christian Era. An Egyptian bas- 

 relief of about 1350 B.C. shows pigeons being released from 

 cages just as they are now released in flying matches. The 

 homing instinct is so strong in the common pigeon that any 

 one familiar with its habits may easily suppose that pigeons 

 were used to carry messages almost as soon as men had devised 

 means of communication by writing upon any material which 



