rOEBIGN PIGEONS. 



of the proportion of time and space whioli their courses occupy, 

 their swiftness has been often compared with that of quadru- 

 peds in their great progressions, whether natural or forced. The 

 stag, the reindeer, and the elk, can traverse forty leagues in a 

 single day; the reindeer, harnessed to a sledge, can make a journey 

 of thirty leagues, and can contiuue so for many days in succes- 

 sion ; the camel can travel three, hundred leagues in eight 

 days ; the horse, trained for the race, and chosen from among 

 the lightest and most vigorous, can perform a league in six or 

 seven minutes; but his speed soon relaxes, and he would be 

 incapable of supporting a longer career with the spirit and 

 celerity with which he set out. But the swiftness of birds 

 is considerably greater than that of such animals. In less 

 than , three minutes we lose sight of a large bird ; of a kite, 

 for example, which proceeds horizontally, or an eagle, which 

 flies vertically, and the diameter of whose extent on the wing is 

 more than four feet. From this we may infer that the bird 

 traverses more than a space of four thousand five hundred feet 

 in a minute, and that he can fly twenty leagues in an hour. 

 Pietro deUa Valle says, that in Persia the carrier pigeon makes 

 greater way in one day than the swiftest human runner can in 

 six," 



rOEEIGN PIGEONS. 



The OohimMdcB, or pigeon family, are distinguished from 

 the poultry and the gaUinaceous birds in general by the pos- 

 session of certain peculiarities, of which the following may be 

 said to be the chief: — BiU arched towards the tip, and with a 

 convex swelling at the base, caused by a sort of gristly patch, 

 which covers the nostrils, and which, in some species, is curi- 

 ously developed. Again, nearly all the gaUinaceous birds are 

 polygamous, and lay a great number of eggs each time they 

 incubate, which, in the temperate zones, is rarely more than 

 twice a year, while the true pigeons lay only two eggs each 

 time and incubate frequently during the year. Finally, in the 

 gallinaceous birds, the hind toe is articulated on the tarsus 

 higher than the others, and only touches the ground with 

 its claws; whereas, the pigeons possess a -posterior toe, upon 

 the same plan as the anterior toe, touching the ground 

 throughout its length in walking and embracing the perch 

 when the bird is at roost. 



The distribution of the pigeon family is very extensive ; the 



