52 PIGEON RAISING 



mast of a ship and going to sleep witH his Kead 

 beneath his wing, was idly shot by the captain 

 because he recognized it as a strange bird for 

 that latitude. 



A much more humane use of the homing 

 pigeon is practiced in China and Spain, where 

 they are used in games. A good description of 

 those practiced in China can be found in the St. 

 Nicholas for February, 1900. 



The homer is always clean-footed and trimly 

 built for flight. His feet and legs are red and 

 his beak is long and horn colored; these marks 

 also come from his early progenitors, the wild 

 pigeons of California having yellow legs and 

 beak. The homer's head should be well 

 shaped; it is said the homer has one-fourth 

 more brain-room than the common pigeon. 



The pigeon fancier always looks to the eye 

 to determine his breeding ; a flattened skull and 

 heavy eye-cere show a barb cross. If the eye 

 is dark, the head round, and beak short and 

 close fitting, there is a preponderance of the 

 owl type; but whatever the cross, the result 

 will be a persistent and intelligent home-seeker 

 that will fly later at night than any other type. 

 Another positive point in the homer is a pro- 

 truding eye-ball. The chest should be full and 

 broad. The tail of the pigeon acts as the rud- 



