Couriers of the Air. 67 



been taken in the distant fields of Georgia and 

 South Carolina ; apparently proving that they 

 passed over the intervening space within a few 

 hours. It certainly seems remarkable that a bird 

 should have the power of winging its way over 

 four thousand miles of sea ; but recently two 

 persons have recorded the fact that they have 

 noticed pigeons settle upon the water to drink, 

 then rise from it with apparent ease. And 

 Mr. Darwin says that, where the banks of the 

 Nile are perpendicular, whole flocks of pigeons 

 have been seen to settle on the water and drink 

 while they floated down the stream. He adds 

 that, seen from a distance, they resemble flocks 

 of gulls on the surface of the sea. The passenger 

 pigeon is one of the handsomest of its kind. The 

 accounts of its migrations in search of food are 

 known to all. It is said to move in such vast 

 flocks as to darken the earth as they pass over, 

 and that one of these columns brings devastation 

 wherever it comes. 



In the Anglo-Belgian pigeon races, some of 

 the birds attain to nearly a mile a minute, and 

 this when the race is for five hundred miles. 

 The English, French, and Germans all rear 

 pigeons in their fortresses ; and the birds are 

 utilised by the Trinity House in conveying 

 messages from the lightships. They are also 

 in use on the Indian stations. The following are 

 additional remarkable instances of quick and 



F 2 



