Chap. i. Domestic Pigeons. 1 5 



in India. Even in the case of the breeds of the domestic dog through- 

 out the world, which I admit are descended from several wild spe- 

 cies it cannot be doubted that there has been an immense amount 

 of inherited variation; for who will believe that animals closely 

 resembling the Italian greyhound, the bloodhound, the bull-dog, 

 P u<m1o", or Blenheim spaniel, &c— so unlike all wild Camdae— • 

 evev existed in a state of nature? It has often been loosely said 

 that all our races of dogs have been produced by the crossing of a 

 few aboriginal species ; but by crossing we can only get forms m 

 some degree intermediate between their parents ; and if we account 

 for our several domestic races by this process, we must admit the 

 former existence of the most extreme forms, as the Italian grey- 

 hound, bloodhound, bull-dog, &c, in the wild state. Moreover, 

 the possibility of making distinct races by crossing has been greatly 

 •exaggerated. Many cases are on record, showing that a race may 

 be modified by occasional crosses, if aided by the careful selection 

 of the individuals which present the desired character; but to 

 obtain a race intermediate between two quite distinct races, would 

 be very difficult. Sir J. Sebright expressly experimented with this 

 object, and failed. The offspring from the first cross between two 

 pure breeds is tolerably and sometimes (as I have found with 

 pigeons) quite uniform in character, and everything seems simple 

 enough ; but when these mongrels are crossed one with another for 

 several generations, hardly two of them are alike, and then the 

 difficulty of the task becomes manifest. 



Breeds of the Domestic Pigeon, their Differences and Origin. 



Believing that it is always best to study some special group, I 

 have, after deliberation, taken up domestic pigeons. I have kept 

 every breed which I could purchase or obtain, and have been most 

 kindly favoured with skins from several quarters of the world, more 

 especially by the Hon. W. Elliot from India, and by the Hon. C. 

 Murray from Persia. Many treatises in different languages have 

 been published on pigeons, and some of them are very important, 

 as being of considerable antiquity. I have associated with several 

 eminent fanciers, and have been permitted to join two of the London 

 Pigeon Clubs. The diversity of the breeds is something astonishing. 

 Compare the English carrier and the short-faced tumbler, and see 

 the wonderful difference in their beaks, entailing corresponding 

 differences in their skulls. The carrier, more especially the male 

 bird, is also remarkable from the wonderful development of the 

 carunculated skin about the head ; and this is accompanied by 

 greatly elongated eyelids, very large external orifices to the nostrils, 





