184 PIGEONS. 



The railways of Belgium are partially under the control of the State, and, on one 

 occasion, representation was made to the Government officials requesting them to 

 arrange a low tariff of charges for the baskets containing the pigeons that were 

 being practised or trained for the long matches. 



" The training that these birds undergo is very severe. The young birds are 

 taken to gradually increasing distances as their pow r ers of flight increase, so that 

 eventually they are acquainted with all the conspicuous landmarks of the long 

 journeys. If it is attempted to train them too rapidly, or by too long stages, many 

 of the birds are lost ; whereas, by careful training, as practised at Liege, only ten 

 per cent, are lost in short courses, and only fifty per cent, even in very long dis- 

 tances. In this province they do not fly the young birds of the year more than 

 seventy miles, nor ever attempt more than 200 miles the second year, leaving the 

 longer and more severe distances for the older and more mature birds, that have 

 acquired full development and experience. 



" With regard to the faculty that these birds possess of returning home from long 

 distances, I believe more erroneous statements hare been written respecting it than 

 on any other subject connected with pigeons. It is usually attributed to some 

 mysterious power or instinct that these birds possess, and that is not possessed 

 by Turbits, Fantails, Jacobins, or other varieties. I believe that instinct has , 

 nothing whatever to do with the homing power, but that the birds find their 

 way solely by observation ; and I ground my belief on the following facts : — 



" Any peculiar instinct — such as that of nest-building, power of migration, &c. — 

 bestowed on any species, is equally bestowed on all the individuals of that species, 

 and not on a few only ; thus, all swallows migrate, but all pigeons do not return 

 home from a hundred miles' distance. 



"Instinct is the same in all cases. All swallows fly south in autumn ; but the 

 homing pigeon can return home north, south, east, or west — a variation in action 

 that is incompatible with the notion of an unreasoning instinct. 



" Pigeons must be regularly trained by stages, or the best birds will be inevitably 

 lost if thrown one hundred or two hundred miles. 



" The best birds will refuse to fly in a fog ; nor will I ever believe, except from 

 personal experience, that a bird will fly home in the dark. I have tried many 

 experiments, and lost many of my best birds in so doing. On one occasion I took 

 a bird, that had often flown fifty miles, to a distance of five miles, and threw 

 him on a foggy day ; he at once settled at the top of a house, and remained there 

 until the fog cleared off. On another occasion I let two of my very best birds 

 loose after a show at the Freemasons' Hall, at four o'clock p.m., early in January. 

 One perched over the door, and when driven up, flew on to the opposite house. 

 Of the two only one ever returned home, the other, probably, falling a prey to 

 the cats. 



" To any one who has ever been in the habit of flying these birds the idea of 

 instinct is absurd. A bird thrown in a new locality flies round and round in 

 gradually-increasing circles, until at length it descries some familiar object, and 



