THF. BLUE KOCK PIGEON. 



witi their new dwelling), they betake themselves to some ruin, 

 tower, or steeple, or even to the eaves and cornices of some 

 pubho building, where birds of this description may frequently 

 be met with ; or, in mountainous districts, they will betake 

 themselves to the rocks, and join any colony of wild birds that 

 may happen to be there. Although a natvtraUy timid bird, the 

 dove-house pigeon does not, like the blue rock, shun the abode 

 of man." 



Respecting the Uieory that the entire family of British 

 pigeons claim as their progenitors 

 the dove-honse pigeon, the same 

 authority observes : — " I beheve 

 that the blue rock is a distinct 

 Bpecies from the dove-house. I 

 have not, however, had any op- 

 portunity of trying to what ex- 

 tent the two wiU breed together, 



or if their produce would be pro- ^^^^ ^^^.^ ^^^^^ 



ductive inter se, as I have never 



been able to procure the blue rock pigeon in all its purity ; but 

 its wild unreclaimable nature, and its shurming so completely 

 the abodes or neighbourhood of man, lead me to suspect that 

 such is the case. 



" The dove-house pigeon is, on the other hand, a bird eminently 

 susceptible of domestication — is everywhere found in that state ; 

 and a great many of the varieties of toys, or the lower class 

 fancy pigeons, are evidently of this sort, little or nothing 

 changed except in the colour of their plumage, while many 

 others appear to be derived from the same source, but crossed 

 with the other fancy kinds, or showing, more or less, the effect 

 of careful breeding and selection. Thus far I am willing to 

 admit of their descent from one original stock, viz., the 

 chequered dove-house pigeon, Gohimba agrestis — Gol/u/mha 

 affimis of some. But when we come to examine the varied 

 forms and distinct properties of many of the higher class fancy 

 pigeons, I feel a great disinclination to assign them one com- 

 mon origin; nor do I think that even the admission of the 

 blue rock (supposing that pigeon will produce fertile offspring 

 with the dove-house pigeon) is sufficient to account for the 

 many varied and marked peculiarities, or that domestication 

 could so alter the form, and even nature, of the different breeds 

 which continue to present the same peculiarities through so 

 many generations. Of course, I do not deny the possibility 



