367 



HOMING PIGEONS. 



" Of the three engravings which accompany this article, the 

 first (Fig. 14) represents, life size, a head which may be regarded 

 as that of a very handsome Belgian Yoyageur cock. It may 

 be taken as that of the bird which Mons. Ch. Mills and Mr. 

 C. L. Sutherland both practical men gave me the first prize 

 for at the Alexandra Poultry Show, 1875; but it was not 

 drawn from that bird, but from a cock I obtained of Mons. 

 Ch. Mills. The bird has all the properties that I desire to 



FIG. 14. 



see in the head of a flying pigeon a full-developed brain 

 case, showing a large brain, and such a structure of head as 

 indicates strength and endurance and he is without any 

 tendency to the absurd exaggeration of any fancy point. Of 

 course, no really practical judge would give a prize in a homing 

 class, even to such a bird, unless he were in first-rate condition, 

 with his plumage hard and firm, the flight feathers broad and 

 overlapping, and the bones of the wing well clothed with power- 



