FATHER OF PIGEON-FANCIERS 53 



of man ; and that they possess a formation of 

 the eyes by which they are able to adjust their 

 sight to near or far-distant objects at will. Nor 

 do they seem aware that a bird raised 130 yards 

 in the air commands a panoramic view, the 

 horizon of which is distant twenty-five miles, 

 even when the surface is a perfect plain. 



" But the artists are to be blamed as much as 

 the writers. We are all familiar with the pretty 

 pictures of doves flying into the bosoms of their 

 mistresses with large packets tied under their 

 wings. These pictures have no foundation in 

 nature. Like the German philosopher's idea of 

 a camel, they are evolved out of the inner con- 

 sciousness of the artists. A pigeon could not 

 fly encumbered with a letter ; and when a bird 

 is employed for conveying a message, a narrow 

 slip of paper is written on, rolled round its leg, 

 and secured by a thread. As the leg and foot 

 during flight are drawn up into the soft feathers, 

 the paper so attached offers no impediment to 

 the speed of the bird. 



" But to return to the pigeon match. The 

 birds entered and trained for the match are, on 

 the day appointed, taken to some distant place, 

 either previously fixed on, or the direction of 

 which may be decided by lot on the morning of 

 the race. The birds competing are then set free, 

 and if well trained and conversant with the road, 

 they return home with wondrous rapidity. Thus 

 in a match which annually takes place from 

 Southampton to London, the winning birds always 

 perform the journey in less than an hour's time. 

 The competing bird, on alighting at the house of 

 its owner, is instantly captured in one of the 

 traps or in the ' area ' to which I have before 

 alluded. A fixed time is permitted each owner 



