PIGEONS 



293 



pigeons, have been of use to men like Darwin, 

 to prove their theories on selection, descent, 

 and the power of experiments. 



The em]5loynient of pigeons as messengers 

 cumcs from their faculty of finding their homes 

 and returning to them from very great dis- 

 tances. Though many other domestic animals 

 VI. Sever.\l Species. Mes.sexger Pigeons h^.-g ^^e same gift, yet their unerring choice 

 After the pouters wc must mention the ca- of the right direction, the rapidity of their 

 runcular pigeons, the best known of which are flight above countries completeh' unknown to 



Carrier Pigeons 



Photographed iifter a journey of 3000 miles 



the carriers, the Bagadas, and the dragons. All 



these birds have warty excrescences on their 



beaks and thick red rims around their eyes. 



The carrier pigeons have a noble 



bearing 



their legs are long 



and withovit feathers, and 

 the feathers of the body 

 are smooth and in 

 significant. This 

 species has every 

 appearance of a 



wild bird. Its 



flight is superb, 



and surpasses that 



of other breeds ; 



but the thick circles 



around its eyes prevent 



it from seeing well, and it is 



therefore kept more for show 



than for use, and is very costly. 



There are many varieties of these 



carrier pigeons, namely those of Antwerp and 



Liege, some turbits, certain tumblers, etc. 



I' 111, t'.AKI 



them, and the greater safety of their missives 

 (carried through air and not on land) give them 

 a very special value of their own. People call 

 this faculty instinct, but in our day 

 that magic word does not lead 

 far en o ugh. Many 

 researches produce 

 theories about this 

 13 rob 1cm which 

 many experiments 

 destroy. Some 

 say these travel- 

 ers are guided by 

 the position of the 

 sun, but pigeons let 

 oose at night find 

 their homes as rapidly 

 and unerringly as by day. 

 ( )thers believe that electric cur- 

 rents have to do with it, but Hachet- 

 Souplet proves that this is impossible. 

 If, however, we consider the keen sight of the 

 pigeon, we may accept, provisionally perhaps, 



