Chap. I.] DOMESTIC PIGEONS. 23 



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 in 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 greyhound, 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 intermediat e 

 betw een 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 mon- 

 grels are crossed one with another for several genera- 

 tions, hardly two of them are alike, and then the diffi- 

 culty 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 pur- 

 chase 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 

 4 



