Chap. L] DOMESTIC PIGEONS. 31 



mongrel offspring being perfectly fertile ; — from these 

 several reasons, taken together, we may safely conclude 

 that all our domestic breeds are descended from the 

 rock-pigeon or Columba livia with its geographical 

 sub-species. 



In favour of this view, I may add, firstly, that the 

 wild C. livia has been found capable of domestication in 

 Europe and in India ; and that it agrees in habits and 

 in a great number of points of structure with all the 

 domestic breeds. Secondly, that, although an English 

 carrier or a short-faced tumbler differs immensely in 

 certain characters from the rock-pigeon, yet that, by 

 comparing the several sub-breeds of these two races, 

 more especially those brought from distant countries, 

 we can make, between them and the rock -pigeon, an 

 almost perfect series ; so we can in some other cases, 

 but not with all the breeds. Thirdly, those characters 

 which are mainly distinctive of each breed are in each 

 eminently variable, for instance the wattle and length 

 of beak of the carrier, the shortness of that of the 

 tumbler, and the number of tail-feathers in the fantail ; 

 and the explanation of this fact will be obvious when 

 we treat of Selection. Fourthly, pigeons have been 

 watched and tended with the utmost care, and loved 

 by many people. They have been domesticated for 

 thousands of years in several quarters of the world ; 

 the earliest known record of pigeons is in the fifth 

 ^Egyptian dynasty, about 3000 B.C., as was pointed 

 out to me by Professor Lepsius ; but Mr. Birch informs 

 me that pigeons are given in a bill of fare in the 

 previous dynasty. In the time of the Eomans, as we 

 hear from Pliny, immense prices were given for 

 pigeons ; " nay, they are come to this pass, that they 



