POULTKY TRIBE. 247 



The mode in which the despatch is fastened to 

 the bird is this ; the paper is rolled tightly to 

 about the size of a quill ; it is then doubled up 

 and tied round with thread, a loop being left 

 through which a piece of soft cord is run. The 

 cord is then tied gently just above the claw, and 

 the despatch hangs down. It cannot slip off; and 

 the instant the bird is let go, both leg and despatch 

 are drawn up under the plumage, and the docu- 

 ment is so perfectly protected from the weather, 

 that even the heaviest rains of the tropics through 

 which the birds occasionally have to pass, scarcely 

 affect the paper.* 



* In the " Illustrated News," for February 2nd, 1856, this 

 account is given, together with a picture representing the 

 scene on the reception of the Pigeon Express bringing the 

 news of the capture of Sebastopol at the capital of Ceylon. 



