CHAPTEE IX. 



HOMING BIRDS, OR LES PIGEONS VOYAGEURS — ANTWERPS — SMERLES, ETC. 



TTAYING described the breed known as the Carrier, and the varieties allied to 

 -L-L it, we have now to consider the differemT"kinds of Homing pigeons, or those 

 that are remarkable for their powers of flight and their attachment to the home in 

 which they have been reared and first flown. There are numerous varieties that 

 exhibit this peculiarity, such as the Dragon, the ordinary flying Tumbler, and the 

 Skinnum, or mongrel race, between these two breeds. Among the pure breeds 

 that can be flown good distances may be mentioned that called the Owl pigeon. 

 But the varieties in which this homing faculty is developed to the highest degree 

 are unquestionably the different races of Belgian birds, which are termed in 

 England by the general name of Antwerps, and in Belgium are known as Smerles, 

 Cumulets, Demi Bees, &c. Of these varieties the Smerles are the .most im- 

 portant, as being the best known, and we therefore reproduce the following 

 description from the pen of the editor, Mr. Tegetmeier, who writes : — ■ 



"From the fact that many of the breed come from Antwerp, they are not 

 unfrequently known as Antwerps or Antwerp Carriers, and under the first of 

 these names often have a class given to them at the poultry and pigeon shows ; 

 a very absurd arrangement, as they have no qualities that can afford any criteria 

 for a judge to decide upon in a show-pen. 



" The Smerles are rather small birds, and look very much as if they had been 

 originally bred from a rather coarse blue Owl pigeon, crossed with a Blue Bock. 

 The head is arched, and the skull capacious, indicating a full development of 

 brain, and offering a striking contrast to the flat narrow skull of the English 

 fancy Carrier. The most striking characteristic of these birds is the firmness and 

 great breadth of the flight feathers of the wings. These overlap each other to a 

 great extent, and afford a strong firm wing with which the flight is urged. The 

 keel of the breast-bone is deep and well covered with strong muscles; and 

 there is altogether an absence of any offal or large development of any part not 

 used in flight. 



" In rapidity and power of flying these birds far exceed any other variety of 

 pigeon with which I am acquainted. When I kept a large number I have often 

 enjoyed watching the flight dart off in a gale of wind; and, after seeing them 

 apparently swept away by the blast, witness them come back in the very teeth of 

 the gale with almost the same ease and rapidity as they would have done in a 

 calm. 



