ANCIENT AND MODERN VARIETIES THE FANCY. 139 



cherished by man, as a source of amusement, and of 

 gratification to the eye, as well as of profit, in the 

 article of provision for the table. Among certain 

 of the nations of antiquity, moreover, pigeons were 

 held sacred, and their lives no one dared assail. 

 The useful qualification of MESSENGER, appertaining 

 to the Asiatic and African species of the pigeon, is 

 of high antiquity ; and we read, in the time of the 

 Crusades, of an Arabian prince, who had a sort of 

 telegraphic communication kept up in his domi- 

 nions, through the instrumentality of pigeons, which 

 carried letters, and were regularly relieved at the 

 appointed posts. From those, doubtless, the breed 

 celebrated in Europe, under the name of THE CAR- 

 RIER, has proceeded. 



In modern times, those varieties which are kept 

 for the purposes of amusement and show, are styled 

 FANCY BREEDS, and they form a distinct article of 

 commerce in cities and great towns, the varieties, as 

 they chance to be in fashion, bringing a considerable 

 price. In London, the pigeon fanciers immemorially, 

 I believe, have had a club, in which premiums are 

 awarded, and the notable science of the fancy, 

 through the medium of crossing colours and forms, 

 is promoted and perpetuated. The chief objects of 

 the fancy have hitherto been those varieties styled 

 ALMOND (probably ermine) TUMBLERS, CARRIERS, 

 and the birds with great crops, the most fashionable 

 variety of which is the POUTING HORSEMAN. The 

 specific merits of these breeds are indicated by their 

 names. The tumbler exercises that faculty in the 

 air, but is chiefly valued for his peculiar form and 



