THE VARIOUS BREEDS 51 



that the home instinct is so strong a character- 

 istic that he will travel for hundreds of miles in 

 order to reach that beloved spot, one thousand 

 miles being the prize distance. Over distances 

 they can cover in a few hours they can make a 

 speed of fifty to ninety miles an hour. The 

 rate of flight for long distances is very low — 

 about two and a half days to cover 650 miles, 

 although there is a record of 611 miles being 

 made in twelve hours. When the maximum 

 distance of 1,000 miles is to be traversed the 

 average rate of flight is extremely low; from 

 nine to fourteen days is a splendid record. It 

 is not uncommon for birds to take fifteen, six- 

 teen, and twenty days for such a journey. So 

 many and severe are the trials sometimes that 

 these graceful little creatures have to contend 

 with on the journey that some of them return 

 from such a distance after months, or even 

 years. Only a few of the birds released 1,000 

 miles from home ever get back. 



Many and pitiful are the stories told of the 

 hardships endured by these little message bear- 

 ers who many times meet their death through 

 the ignorant curiosity of human beings; as, for 

 example, the case of the tired little homer who, 

 Bearing the last message of the balloonist, An- 

 dree, from the Arctic regions, lighting on the 



