20 



Domestic Pigeons, Chap. r. 



breed freely under domestication; — these supposed species being 

 quite unknown in a wild state, and their not having become any- 

 where feral ; — these species presenting certain very abnormal cha- 

 racters, as compared with all other Columbidaa, though so like the 

 rock-pigeon in most respects ; — the occasional re-appearance of 

 the blue colour and various black marks in all the breeds, both 

 when kept pure and when crossed ; — and lastly, the mongrel off- 

 spring 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 geogra- 

 phical 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 struc- 

 ture 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 dis- 

 tinctive 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 Selec- 

 tion. Fourthly, pigeons have been watched and tended with the 

 utmost care, and loved by many people. They have been domesti- 

 cated 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 Romans, as we hear from 

 Pliny, immense prices were given for pigeons ; " nay, they are come 

 to this pass, that they can reckon up their pedigree and race." 

 Pigeons were much valued by Akber Khan in India, about the year 

 1600 ; never less than 20,000 pigeons were taken with the court. 

 " The monarchs of Iran and Turan sent him some very rare birds ; " 

 and, continues the courtly historian, " His Majesty by crossing the 

 breeds, which method was never practised before, has improved them 

 astonishingly." About this same period the Dutch were as eager 

 about pigeons as were the old Romans. The paramount importance 

 of these considerations in explaining the immense amount of vari- 

 ation which pigeons have undergone, will likewise be obvious when 



