PIGEONS 



245 



the birds could carry in their flight. There is reason to believe 

 that in very ancient times pigeons were bred and trained espe- 

 cially for work of this kind in Egypt, Greece, and Rome. 



The pigeon which in England and America now goes by the 

 name of " Carrier Pigeon" is a type developed as a messenger 

 pigeon in Persia and from that country distributed to many 

 parts of the world. As bred in Asia it was larger and stronger 



FIG. 193. Feeding pigeons on Boston Common. (Photograph from 

 Elmer E. Rice, Boston, Massachusetts) 



than the common pigeon, and had a cere, or convoluted mem- 

 brane, around each eye and at the juncture of the head and the 

 beak. It is thought that this type of Carrier may have been 

 taken from Asia Minor to England at the time of the Crusades, 

 but nothing definite is known of it in Great Britain until the 

 seventeenth century. This old type of Carrier and several closely 

 related varieties were used for messengers, and also in flying 

 competitions, until the variety next described was developed. 

 When the Carrier Pigeon was bred for carrying messages, no 



