

PIGEONS. 149 



some countries the rearing of them forms a lucrative employ- 

 ment. The instinct which has rendered the carrier pigeon so 

 serviceable is the strong desire manifested by all pigeons to 

 return to the place of its ordinary residence ;' and man has 

 adopted various precautionary measures, in order to make its 

 return on particular occasions more certain. A male and 

 female are usually kept together and treated well ; and one 

 of these, when taken elsewhere, is supposed to have the 

 greater inducement to come back. It is even considered 

 necessary by some that the bird should have left eggs in the 

 process of incubation, or unfledged young ones at home, in 

 order to make the return certain ; but probably these are 

 superfluous precautions. It is obvious that the carrier pigeon 

 can only be put to use in conformity with some contemplated 

 plan, for which the proper preparations have been made. It 

 must have been taken from a place to which it is wished that it 

 should return, and it must, at the moment when its services are 

 wanted, be temporarily at the place from which the intelli- 

 gence is to be conveyed. It is usually taken to that place 

 hood-winked, or in a covered basket ; the instinct by which it 

 finds its way back upon its own wings must of course be inde- 

 pendent of all knowledge of the intermediate localities. When 

 the moment for employing it has arrived, the individual requir- 

 ing its services writes a small billet upon thin paper, which is 

 placed lengthwise under the wing, and fastened by a pin to one 

 of the feathers, with some precautions to prevent the pin from 

 pricking, and the paper from filling with air. On being 

 released, the carrier ascends to a great height, takes one or two 

 turns in the air, and then commences its forward career, at the 

 rate of forty miles in the hour, or about a thousand a day." 



Mr. Abel Moore, of Boston, has an extensive assortment of 

 pigeons, the best that I have ever seen, and fanciers can obtain 

 almost any desirable variety at his establishment. 

 13* 



