-Chap. VI. HISTORY OP THE PRINCIPAL PACES. 207 



male does break his marriage-vow, he does not permanently 

 desert his mate. I have bred in the same aviaries many pigeons 

 of different kinds, and never reared a single bird of an impure 

 strain. Hence a fancier can with the greatest ease select and 

 match his birds. He will also soon see the good results of his 

 care ; for pigeons breed with extraordinary rapidity. He may 

 freely reject inferior birds, as they serve at an early age as ex- 

 cellent food. To sum up, pigeons are easily kept, paired, and 

 selected ; vast numbers have been reared ; great zeal in breed- 

 ing them has been shown by many men in various countries ; 

 and this would lead to their close discrimination, and to a strong 

 desire to exhibit some novelty, or to surpass other fanciers in 

 the excellence of already established breeds. 



History of the principal Races of the Pigeon.™ 



Before discussing the means and steps by which the chief races have 

 heen formed, it will be advisable to give some historical details, for more 

 is known of the history of the pigeon, little though this be, than of any 

 other domesticated animal. Some of the cases are interesting as proving 

 how long domestic varieties may be propagated with exactly the same or 

 nearly the same characters; and other cases are still more interesting as 

 showing how slowly but steadily races have been greatly modified during 

 successive generations. In the last chapter I stated that Trumpeters and 

 Laughers, both so remarkable for their voices, seem to have been perfectlv 

 characterized in 1735; and Laughers were apparently known in India 

 before the year 1600. Spots in 1676, and Nuns in the time of Aldro- 

 vandi before 1600, were coloured exactly as they now are. Common 

 Tumblers and Ground Tumblers exhibited in India, before the year 1600 

 the same extraordinary peculiarities of flight as at the present day, for 

 they are well described in the 'Ayeen Akbery.' These breeds may all 



foXTn /° • LTS l0 f ger Peri ° d; WG know onl y that the y ™«>W 

 fectly characterized at the dates above given. The average length of life of 



raLsW ?*2 l Pr0ba ^ about five or s* years ; if so, some of these 

 gZrato " CharaCtGr Perfectly for at least for ^ or fi % 



two chief points of excellence In 17?f M S ! f ^ PreSGnt time the 



edition)-Ll Moore ZTZ^i^ L^t^i *" ** J " * EaWs 



i<we lanciei— that he once saw a bird with 



36 As in the following discussion I in the year IS^S 

 often speak of the present time, I should s: f 0r J* , .' ^ , .. 



■state that this chapter was completed 3G0 Urmtholo g ie > 1600, vol. u. p. 



