96 PIGEONS. 



"The account stated that 'the bird's feathers were ruffled and somewhat torn, 

 showing, very probably, that the despatch attached to it had worn off in the long 

 and weary flight of somewhere about 2,000 miles. Unfortunately, therefore, there 

 is no written intelligence from the explorers. The other bird has not been caught. 

 We remember no similar feat being performed by a pigeon,' &c, &c. 



" In the ' Manchester Guardian,' Mr. J. Galloway throws discredit on the whole 

 affair, in the following very sensible remarks : — * Those who know anything of the 

 habits of pigeons, or the careful training requisite to enable them to accomplish 

 long flights, will not easily be led astray by the clumsy invention of some ignorant 

 wag, desirous of practising on the credulity of the public. Two pigeons were 

 said to have been seen at a considerable distance from their cot, because it 

 was shut up. This would be contrary to their habits ; they icould remain 

 at their old habitation until nearly famished with hunger. Again : one of 

 them had the feathers ruffled or disordered under the wing, as if a letter 

 had been fastened there. Now an express flier of pigeons would just as 

 soon think of tying a letter to a bird's tail, as under its wing. The practice 

 is to roll some fine tissue paper neatly round the leg, secured with a 

 thread of silk; and thus the bird can travel, without the paper causing resist- 

 ance or impediment to its flight. Then, more marvellous still, the creature must 

 have flown 2,000 miles ! — a considerable distance of which must have been over 

 snowy or frozen regions. In modern times, no such distance as 2,000 miles 

 has been accomplished by any trained pigeon. The merchants and manufac- 

 turers of Belgium have done more to test the capabilities of pigeons than any 

 other people. Their annual pigeon-races produce an excitement almost equal to 

 our horse-races. In 1844 one of the greatest races took place, from St. Sebastian, 

 in Spain, to Vervier. The distance would be about 600 miles. Two hundred 

 trained pigeons, of the best breed in the world, were sent to St. Sebastian, and 

 only 70 returned. In another race to Bordeaux, 86 pigeons were sent, and 20 

 returned. A strange and mistaken notion prevails that it is only necessary to 

 send a flying pigeon away from home and that its instinct will invariably lead it 

 back. Let any one try the experiment, and send the best bred birds at once 

 from Manchester to Birmingham, and I venture to assert that not one will return 

 to Manchester without previous training, viz., taking them short distances at a 

 time and then increasing by degrees. It has been asserted that pigeons are 

 guided on their return home from long distances by instinct. Instinct is said to 

 be unerring ; not so the pigeon's flight. If instinct be the guide, why not fly 

 through foggy weather with equal speed and facility as in clear sunshine ? This, it 

 is notorious, they cannot accomplish. When the ground is covered with snow, 

 pigeons seem to miss their points of guidance, and are lost. This would seem to 

 favour the opinion that they travel by sight, and are less indebted to instinct than 

 is generally imagined. Homing pigeons do not fly at night ; they settle down if 

 they cannot reach then- home by the dusk of evening, and renew their flight at 

 daylight next morning." 



