THE ATLANTIC SLOPE NATURALIST. 



thoughts from self and fixing them on 

 the outer world, and also that these 

 entertainments were given at about the 

 same hour of the day, arrangements 

 were made for noting the time when 

 each singer should commence his per- 

 formance. 



Accordingly, a burning lamp was so 

 placed with respect to the timepiece that 

 the figures could be clearly seen upon 

 the dial. Everything being now in readi- 

 ness, developments were anxiously 

 awaited. 



As usual, the robin took the lead. His 



first note was exactly struck at three and 



thirty of the o'clock, and for nearly a 



half-hour he ruled the realm of song. 



Two weeks and more was he thus timed, 



but he seldom, if ever, varied from these 

 figures. 



The hour of five found the summer 

 yellovvbird and song sparrow sufficiently 

 awake to add their quota of delight. 



But scarcely had they thrilled the fields 

 and groves around with their sweet 

 cadences, than they were hushed into 

 silence by sounds more shrill than jay or 

 crow e'er uttered, for the sparrows — those 

 hateful, saucy gamins from Albion's 

 shores — had now essayed their matins. 



At five, outdone by heat and worry, 

 they ceased awhile their clatter, and anon 

 was heard the twitter of the redstart as 

 he glided in and out among the tree- 

 branches, or the titter of the barn swallow 

 as he gracefully cleaved the ether. 



Six o'clock ushered in the tinkling, bell- 

 like utterances of the wood thrush, and, 

 as he poured from lofty ash or oak his 

 matchless music, all other minstrels slunk 

 away, or hid themselves for shame. 



The catbird and the thrasher, in the 

 intervals of his silence, would, by their 

 many-voiced language, command atten- 

 tion, but always did their best when he 

 had sought the bush for shelter. 



Later on, the wren and bluebird 

 charmed me with their notes, but, by 

 the time the clock had pealed the hour of 

 ten, my friends had flown, I knew not 

 whither, and I was left alone, my thoughts 

 my only solace. 



The Homing Pigeon. 



By W. Aldworth Poyser, Philadelphia, Pa. 



The Homing Pigeon and its per- 

 formances seem to have escaped the 

 eye of the ornithologist. Our present 

 American type of homing pigeon was 

 originated in Belgium during the early 

 part of the past century, and is the 

 result of cross-breeding several fancy 

 varieties. To the non-fancier the flying 

 powers of our subject seem nothing 

 short of miraculous. During the 

 spring of 1902, a club of fanciers in 

 Chicago shipped some birds to Mexico, 

 air-line to Chicago, 1370 miles. Thirty 

 days after liberation one bird returned 

 to the loft of its owner. Several birds 

 have flown 600 miles in one day, at- 

 taining in some cases an average speed 

 of over 1400 yards per minute. Wav- 

 erly Boy, a bird two years old, belong- 

 ing to the writer, flew in the spring 

 of 1902: 100, 300, 400 and 505 miles. 

 Each journey was completed the day 

 of liberation; the 505 miles in a little 

 over 13 hours. Yet, he was but an 

 average bird. Pigeons that have flown 

 500 miles on the same day are probably 

 numbered by hundreds in Philadel- 

 phia alone. So much for the matured 

 specimen — now its life-history. 



Homing pigeons mate for life. Two 

 eggs constitute a set. Incubation, 

 both birds participating, lasts from 16 

 to 18 days. At the age of six weeks 

 the youngsters are able to care for 

 themselves, when four or five months 

 old they are shipped 5, 10, 20, 40, 60 

 to 80 miles from home at intervals of 3 

 or 4 days. This usually constitutes 

 their training as youngsters. The fol- 

 lowing spring brings a repetition with 

 careful and protracted exercise about 

 the home loft. Following at inter- 

 vals of a week to ten days come the 

 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 mile races, 

 many returning in good time, some 

 never. The writer once owned a bird 

 that returned to its home in Philadel- 

 phia a year after being liberated in 





