The Feather's Practical Pigeon Bgok 



jecture, for there is no written nor known history to 

 establish this fact, but as all the experiments and study 

 of Darwin and other naturalists point to the Blue Rocks 

 as the common origin of fancy pigeons, we who have 

 not given the matter deep thought and scrutiny, as we 

 can not bring convincing proof to contradict, can do no 

 better than accept this theory, and believe in the prin- 

 ciple of evolution and the survival of the fittest as ap- 

 plied to the pigeon family. 



The Blue Rock Pigeon or Rock Dove and the Cheq- 

 uered Dove House Pigeon, are what are known as true 

 pigeons, and differ from the Dove proper, in that they 

 are not arboreal in their habits and are of a domestic 

 rather than a roving disposition, preferring to live in 

 colonies and having a fixed abode, and being capable 

 of domestication. They are found in most parts of 

 Europe, Asia, and Africa in a wild state, making their 

 homes about cliffs and among the rocks and caves where 

 they live in large families, never going far from home. 

 They build their nests on the rocks and they are com- 

 posed of twigs, rough grasses, and other coarse ma- 

 terial placed loosely together. The female lays two 

 white eggs, and they produce several pairs in a season, 

 the male assisting the female in the work of incubation. 

 The Blue Rock is rather smaller than the Dove House 

 Pigeon, and, as its name would indicate, has plumage of 

 a light grayish-blue, with a beautiful tinge of green 

 about the neck, variegated with purple and bronze reflec- 

 tions. The head is quite long, eyes orange-red, the beak 

 thin and black in color, legs short, feet red and tipped 

 with nails the color of the bill. Across the lower part of 

 the wings are two black parallel bars, the rump is white, 

 the tail narrow, composed of twelve feathers, each end- 

 ing in a black bar which, when closed, forms a bar 



