CHAPTER XIX. 



THE ARCHANGEL PIGEON. 



The first mention of the archangel pigeon in English literature is in 

 "Dixon's Dovecote and Aviary" (1851). An authentic account of its 

 introduction into England is given by Mr. Betty, in Mr. Tegetmeier'.=! 

 work. The late Mr. Frank Eedmond, being in Ghent in 1839, selecting 

 some pigeons for Sir John Sebright, procured a pair of archangels. 

 Sir John bred them for some time, and at his death the greater nnmber 

 went to the aviaries of the Earl of Derby, at Knowsley, at whose death 

 they were distributed. The English name is probably derived from 

 the vivid metallic lustre the bird carries on the back and wing feathers, 

 similar to what painters have shown on the wings of angels. At 

 least it does not derive its name from the town of Archangel. 

 The German name is givipel, or the bullfinch pigeon, considered as 

 very appropriate by Neumeister, who says : " No other pigeon displays 

 so decidedly its name by its colouring as does the bullfinch, and thus it 

 can be distinguished at a first glance." According to him it has only 

 been known in Germany for about fifty years, but whether this time is 

 to be reckoned from the date of his first edition, or from the date of 

 the copy from which I quote (1876), I am unable to say. Some 

 authors, he says, call it a native of Southern Germany and the Tyrol, 

 where it is common. 



I find from C. Malmusi's " Historical Notices of the Triganieri," or 

 Pigeon Flyers of Modena (18.51), that, besides the present breed, the 

 Trirjanieri of Modena, formerly trained three other kinds of pigeons for 

 their aerial contests. "Pausing now," he writes, "in my description 

 of the qualities of the triganini, I will mention that three other distinct 



