PREFACE. 



This book is the offspring of my leisure hours. 

 It is not a treatise on Pigeons compiled on 

 scientific principles. It is an essay. An essay 

 should be chatty rather than systematic, so 

 that you' can wander off into by-ways that 

 attract the fancy without transgressing. There 

 are points of interest that might have been 

 touched on, such as the descent of all Pigeons 

 from one common ancestry. But this wide field 

 of discussion has been so well ploughed by 

 scientific hands, that I declined to enter upon 

 it. It is harrowing work to rake among other 

 people's stale thoughts when you have no fresh 

 ones to add yourself. To Messrs. Fulton, 

 Gellett, and Woodhouse, my best thanks are due 

 for assistance rendered. 



September 27, 1 886. 



