52 



THE NEXT GENERATION 



backward down the back of the neck and stand up like a 

 hood ; and, as conspicuous as any, the Fantail, with so many 

 feathers in its tail (thirty or forty instead of twelve or fourteen) 

 that it hardly looks like a pigeon at all. 



Darwin studied each kind, and he came to the conclusion 

 that each had been secured through man's careful selection 



of pigeon ancestors — that 

 not one had been created pre- 

 cisely as he himself found it. 

 He even went so far as to say 

 he was sure " that the com- 

 mon opinion of naturalists is 

 correct, namely, that all have 

 descended from the Rock 

 pigeon. ... At least a score 

 of pigeons might be chosen," 

 he said, " which, if shown to 

 an ornithologist and he was 

 told that they were wild birds, 

 would certainly, I think, be 

 ranked by him as well-defined 

 species." 



He talked the matter over 

 with every intelligent bird 

 breeder whom he met, and 

 each assured him that the one essential thing was to select 

 ancestors according to what was wanted in the next genera- 

 tion. All acknowledged that the process took time. One told 

 Darwin that "he could produce any given feather in three 

 years, but that it would take six years to produce head and 

 neck." In every case this selecting was done by the breeder 

 himself. He knew precisely what he wanted. 



The Wild Parent op Numerous 



Domesticated Pigeons that have 



been developed by selection 



(From " Domesticated Animals and 

 Plants," by E. Davenport) 



