THE ROCK-DOVE. 445 



the birds can change their places freely ; biit in the case of the wooden cotes, the space is very 

 limited, and the ventilation almost reduced to a nullity. Vermin, too, swarm in such places, 

 and the birds show their good sense in getting away from so unhealthy a situation. The cotes 

 should always be well cleaned at intervals, and the owner will be repaid by the health and 

 rapidly increasing number of his birds. 



In a domesticated state, although it is better to feed them at home and so keep them from 

 straying, they will always forage for themselves and young without any assistance, a flight of 

 ten miles or so being a mere nothing to these strong-winged birds. Indeed, the Pigeons that 

 inhabit the Hague are known to cross the sea as far as the coast of Norfolk for the sake of 

 feeding on the vetches. 



The color of the Rock-Dove is as follows : The head is gray, and the neck of the same 

 color, but "shot" with purple and green. The chin is blue-gray, and the throat changeable 

 green and pui-ple. The upper surface of the body is also gray, but of a different tone ; the 

 greater coverts are barred with black at their tip, forming a decided band across the wing ; 

 the tertials are also tipped with black, and another black band crosses the wing a little below 

 the first-mentioned bar. These conspicuous black bars are difficult to eradicate from the 

 domestic breeds, and are always apt to make their appearance most unexpectedly, and annoy 

 the fancier greatly. The lower part of the back is pure white, the upper tail-coverts are pearl- 

 gray, and the breast and abdomen of the same hue. The total length of this bird is not quite 

 a foot. 



From this stock, the varieties that have been reared by carefid management are almost 

 innumerable, and are so different in appearance that if they were seen for the first time, 

 almost any systematic naturalist would set them down as belonging not only to different 

 species, but to different genera. Such, for example, as the politer, the jacobin, the trumpeter, 

 and the fantail, the last-mentioned bird having a greater number of feathers in its tail than any 

 of the others. 



As this work is not intended to be of a sporting or "fancy" character, a description of 

 the various fancy Pigeons cannot be given. But the "homing" faculty of this bird, and the 

 use to which it has been put, is too important to be passed over without' a notice. 



It has long been known that Pigeons have a wonderful power of finding their home, even 

 if taken to great distances, and the mode by which the birds are enabled to reach their 

 domiciles has long been the object of discussion, one party arguing that it is an instinctive 

 operation, and the other, that it is entirely by sight. In my opinion the latter party have 

 the better of the argument, though perhaps the element of instinct ought not wholly to 

 be omitted. I have been told by those who have hunted on vast plains, where no object 

 serves as a guide, that the only way to get safely back is to set off on the homeward track 

 without thinking about it, for that when a man begins to exercise his reason, his instinct 

 fails him in proportion, and nnless he should be furnished with a compass, he will probably 

 be lost. 



Still, that the sense of sight is the principal element cannot, I think, be denied. For in 

 training a bird, the instructoi's always take it by degrees to various distances, beginning with 

 half a mile or so, and ending with sixty or seventy miles in the case of really good birds, 

 which will travel from London to Manchester in four hours and a half. In foggy weather the 

 birds are often lost, even though they have to pass over short distances, and when a heavy 

 fall of snow has obliterated their landmarks and given the country an unifonn white coating, 

 they are sadly troubled in finding their way home. Tlie fancy Carrier Pigeon, with the large 

 wattles on the beak, is said to be no very good messenger, the trainers preferring the Belgian 

 bird, with its short beak, round head, and broad shoulders. 



It is a curious, but a well ascertained fact, that the accuracy of Pigeon flight depends 

 much on the points of the compass, although each individual bird may have a different 

 idiosyncracy in this respect. Some birds, for example, always fly best in a line nearly north 

 and south, while others prefer east and west as their line of flight. This remarkable pro- 

 pensity seems to indicate that the birds are much influenced by the electric or magnetic currents 

 continually traversing the earth. When starting from a distance to reach their home, these 



