156 FANCY PIGEONS. 



moulted off, I found he (for it proved to be a cock bird) 

 possessed a very strong, sonorous coo, but had great difficulty 

 in breaking off into the laugh. Only twice did I hear him 

 laugh, and that in a crude style compared to the pure 

 birds; but I have little doubt that his young ones by a 

 pure hen would have had very good voices had I kept, and 

 bred from him. As this breed hails from Mecca, the holiest of 

 Mussulman cities, I would expect to hear that it is there 

 regarded as the descendant of Mahomet's pigeon. 



