THE BIRDS. 533 



some weeks after that time not a pigeon was to be seen in the neigh- 

 bourhood, but in the beginning of March they reappeared as usual. 



" Ring-dove beauteous, is the face 

 Of man so hateful, that his sight 

 Startles thee, in wild affright, 

 From beechen resting-place?" MoiR. 



The Rock Dove (Columba Liria) builds in holes in rocks, but 

 I do not know whether it breeds near my garden. The rock 

 dove is the parent of the home pigeon, which is so useful for pigeon 

 telegraphy. Mr. Tegetmeier has stated that during the siege of 

 Paris about three hundred trained pigeons belonging to a Belgian 

 gentleman were sent by balloon from the capital, and were employed 

 to carry despatches from thence. The messages were set up in type 

 and photographed in collodion, so minutely that they could not be 

 deciphered by the unaided eyesight, but when placed under the micro- 

 scope they could be distinctly read and perfectly copied. These aerial 

 messengers baffled the military skill of the Germans, who in their turn 

 employed hawks to kill the pigeons, but, it is believed, with little or no 

 success. Before electro-telegraphy was discovered pigeons were exten- 

 sively employed for telegraphic purposes, and when I was a boy large 

 establishments existed not far from my home. I used to keep pigeons, 

 which returned over and over again when sent away. It is believed by 

 some persons that pigeons possess an inherent power or instinct which 

 enables them to find their way home from very great distances ; but this 

 is not the fact. They require to be carefully trained, and taught the 

 way to their home by repeated journeys, which is done in the following 

 manner. A bird is selected with large brain, showing natural intelli- 

 gence, and with a finely formed wing with large broad feathers and 

 straight when expanded. Having selected a promising bird, he is taken 

 a short distance the first day ; on the second the distance is doubled, 

 ^and so on from stage to stage till a distance of five hundred miles is 

 attained. A good bird will fly a hundred miles in one hour, and 

 forty-five miles an hour for eight consecutive hours, so the velocity 

 in long journeys is great. When making long flights pigeons rise to 



