PIGEONS 
fi HE Pigeons are among the most ancient 
of domesticated birds. We can imagine 
the children of the Bible—Samuel, David, 
or maybe Cain and Abel, playing with 
these beautiful birds and feeding them, just 
as the traveler sees the little long-gowned 
boys of the Orient doing to-day. The 
taming of the pigeon, and the breeding of different 
varieties, began so long ago, that we have no record 
of it. Charles Darwin believed that the Rock-pig- 
eon of Europe was the ancestor of our common 
domestic varieties. These blue Rock-pigeons build 
in rocky caverns along the coast of the British 
Isles, and of Europe and Asia bordering the Med- 
iterranean. In color they are scarcely distinguishable 
from common tame pigeons. Pigeon breeders have 
never been able to produce a distinct type like 
the Pouter from this species, although their records 
cover two hundred years. However, there are 
other authorities who believe that the stock-dove 
of Europe was the original species. In all proba- 
bility, the pigeons, like the dogs, were derived 
from various wild ancestors. The ancestors of our 
domestic varieties were probably not migratory, 
and lived in caverns or trees. 
There are to-day about one hundred and fifty 
varieties of domestic pigeons, including fancy 
breeds. London is the center of pigeons fanciers, 
and there the best of the fancy varieties bring large 
prices. Of these many varieties only four are recog- 
nized by fanciers in America as having been bred 
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