136 NECESSARY TRAINING. [CHAP. iv. 



would remain at their old habitation until nearly fa- 

 mished with hunger. Again : one of them had the fea- 

 thers ruffled or disordered under the wing, as if a let- 

 ter had been fastened there. Now an express flyer of 

 Pigeons would just as soon think of tying a letter to a 

 bird's tail, as under its wing. The practice is to roll 

 some fine tissue paper neatly round the leg, secured 

 with a thread of silk ; and thus the bird can travel, 

 without the paper causing resistance or impediment to 

 its flight. Then, more marvellous still, the creature 

 must have flown 2000 miles ! a considerable distance 

 of which must have been over snowy or frozen regions. 

 In modern times, no such distance as 2000 miles has 

 been accomplished by any trained Carrier Pigeon. The 

 merchants and manufacturers of Belgium have done 

 more to test the capabilities of Pigeons than any other 

 people. Their annual Pigeon-races produce an excite- 

 ment almost equal to our horse-races. In 1844 one of the 

 greatest races took place, from St. Sebastian, in Spain, 

 to Vervier. The distance would be about 600 miles. 

 Two hundred trained Pigeons, of the best breed in the 

 world, were sent to St. Sebastian, and only 70 returned. 

 In another race to Bordeaux, 86 pigeons were sent, and 

 20 returned. A strange and mistaken notion prevails 

 that it is only necessary to send a Carrier Pigeon away 

 from home and that its instinct will invariably lead it 

 back. Let any one try the experiment, and send the 

 best bred Carriers at once to Birmingham, and I ven- 

 ture to assert that not one will return to Manchester 

 without previous training viz. taking them short dis- 

 tances at a time and then increasing by degrees. It has 

 been asserted that Pigeons are guided on their return 



