210 



THE PRACTICAL PIGEON KEEPER. 



into fancy breeds, independent of any such purpose, the term 

 Carrier only created confusion. For some time the names of 

 Flying Antwerp or Antwerp Carrier were used ; but as the 

 term Antwerp has gradually attached itself to the show variety 

 developed from these birds and described in Chapter XV., 

 general consent has at length settled down to the name of 

 Homing Pigeons, which exactly expresses what is meant, and 



was, we believe, 

 first employed 

 by Mr. Teget- 

 nieier. The fact 

 is, the birds 

 used in flying 

 are of no fixed 

 type, and the 

 extraordinary 

 results attained 

 of late years 

 liave been got 

 by the fusion 

 of difi'erent 

 strains. At 

 least three of 

 tliese have been 

 traced : one of 



them being the English Dragoon; the second a really 

 Belgian pigeon called the Smerle, which from the round head 

 and occasional frill was evidently of Owl parentage ; the 

 third a round-headed, pearl-eyed, high-flying bird, called the 

 Cumulet, and which was evidently related to the Tumbler, 

 We believe the long-faced Beard blood was also used, as we 

 noticed that one of the winners in the Alexandra Palace Eaces 

 of 1878 showed white beard, white thighs, and wliite flights, 

 though of the best Belgian ancestry. 



Blue Homihg Pigeon. 



