Chap. VI. 



THEIR PARENTAGE. 187 



rock-pigeon ; and nearly all the dovecot-pigeons of India have a 

 blue croup like that of the wild 0. intermedia of India. As in 

 various countries the wild rock-pigeon has been found easy to 

 tame, it seems extremely probable that the dovecot -pigeons 

 throughout the world are the descendants of at least two and 

 perhaps more wild stocks; but these, as we have just seen, 

 cannot be ranked as specifically distinct. 



With respect to the variation of G. livia, we may without fear 

 of contradiction go one step further. Those pigeon-fanciers who 

 ■t. believe that all the chief races, such as Carriers, Pouters, Fan- 



tails, &c, are descended from distinct aboriginal stocks, yet 

 admit that the so-called toy-pigeons, which differ from the rock- 

 pigeon in little except in colour, are descended from this bird. 

 By toy-pigeons are meant such birds as Spots, Nuns, Helmets, 

 Swallows, Priests, Monks, Porcelains, Swabians, Archangels, 

 Breasts, Shields, and others in Europe, and many others in 

 India. It would indeed be as puerile to suppose that all these 

 birds are descended from so many distinct wild stocks as 

 to suppose this to be the case with the many varieties of 

 the gooseberry, heartsease, or dahlia. Yet these pigeons all 

 breed true, and many of them present sub-varieties which like- 

 wise truly transmit their character. They differ greatly from 

 each other and from the rock-pigeon in plumage, slightly in size 

 and proportions of body, in size of feet, and in the length and 

 thickness of their beaks. They differ from each other in these 

 respects more than do dovecot-pigeons. Although we may 

 safely admit that the latter, which vary slightly, and that 

 the toy-pigeons, which vary in a greater degree in accord- 

 ance with their more highly-domesticated condition, are de- 

 scended from C. livia, including under this name the above- 

 enumerated wild geographical races ; yet the question becomes 

 far more difficult when we consider the eleven principal races, 

 most of which have been so profoundly modified. It can, 

 however, be shown, by indirect evidence of a perfectly con- 

 clusive nature, that these principal races are not descended 

 from so many wild stocks ; and if this be once admitted, few 

 will dispute that they are the descendants of C. livia, which 

 agrees with them so closely in habits and in most characters, 

 which varies in a state of nature, and which has certainly under- 



