TRAINING PIGEONS 131 



creatures of the animal world possess an 

 uneriing sense of direction. 



Had the converse occurred, viz., that the 

 cow had so discovered her offspring, the occur- 

 rence, though remarkable enough considering 

 the nature of the ground traversed, would have 

 been less surprising. 



The notion of a pigeon scrutinizing en 

 passant the " hills and valleys " for future 

 reference is indeed attributing to the bird 

 faculties of a truly human order. At the same 

 time, if we allow that pigeons have an innate 

 sense of direction, the question naturally 

 arises, why train them ? Is training neces- 

 sary ? In the writer's opinion, training is 

 necessary, for this reason : The birds, being 

 captives and domesticated to serve man's 

 purposes, are not hving under purely natural 

 conditions and therefore are not free to mani- 

 fest their powers at their own (nature's) times 

 and seasons. Instead, they are thrown up to 

 find their way at any odd time and in any state 

 of weather. The system from nature's aspect 

 is irregular ; in fact, it is another instance of 

 the amateur meddling with machinery he does 

 not appreciate and results in the upsetting of 

 the equiUbrium. Training, so far as may be, 

 corrects this ; not by inculcating or improving 



