272 



VERTEBRATES. 



of winged creatures which the hand of God has so profusely 

 adorned with the richest plumage and the most elegant form. 



The Carrier Dove. — Linnaeus calls this most interesting, 

 faa-famed, gifted bird, by the name of colwmha tabeUaria. The 

 name is derived from a word signifying a letter. This dove is of a 

 larger size than the greater part of pigeons, being fifteen inches 

 in length, and sometimes weighing twenty ounces. The symmetry 

 of its form is most superior and complete. Those which are of a 



Carrier DoTe. 



blue, or of a blue piebald color, are most esteemed by pigeon- 

 ianciers. We know not the country to which the carrier originally 

 belonged. It is said to have been imported from Bussorah into 

 Great Britain and the United States, where it is now completely 

 naturalized. 



If carrier pigeons -are hoodwinked, and in this' state con- 

 veyed from twenty to a hundred miles, they will find their way 

 back to the place of their nativity. They are regularly trained to 

 this service in Turkey and Persia. They are carried first, while 

 young, short flights of half a mile, afterwards the distance is 

 gradually increased, till at length they will return from the far- 



