12 PIGEON. 



P. — Columba tabellaria, Jnd. Orn.'u. p. 397. vs. Lin. i. 281. Gm. Lin. i. 771. Bris. i. 



77. I. Id 8vo. i. 16. Rati, 60. 5. Will. 132. t. 34. Id. Engl. 181. Brun. 



No. 213. Klein, 118. 4. Borowsk. iii. 213. 11. 

 Pigeon-Polonois, B?//. ii. 513. pi. 20 ? 

 Carrier Pigeon, Gen. Syn. iv. 613. Alb. ii. pi. 45. Hayes' 's Birds, pi. 16. 



This is much like the last in colour, and remarkable for being 

 extremely tuberculated about the eyes and bill; irides scarlet; the 

 legs are red. 



This sort was formerly made use of, for carrying letters, now 

 little heard of:* this was effected without much difficulty, for after 

 one of them had been confined for some time, it was carried to a 

 distance, and then let loose, and never failed to find its way home, 

 without delay, flying in a direct line ; and by tying a letter or note 

 under the wings, it was conveyed by the most speedy of all methods.f 



Q. — Columba Eques, Ind. Orn. ii. 593. <r. Bris. i. 78. L. Id. 8vo. i. 17. Gm. Lin. i. 



771. Raii, 61. 12. Will. 132. 12. Id. Engl. 182. 12. 

 Columba domestica rostro recurvo, Gerin. iii. t. 277. 

 Pigeon Cavalier, Son. Buf. vii. p. 199. pi. 63. 

 Light Horseman Pigeon, Gen. Syn. iv. 614. Albin, ii. pi. 45. 



This Variety partakes of the two last ; they are said to be excellent 

 breeders, and never forsake the place where they are bred ; on this 



* Now discontinued in the East. — Russell's Aleppo. 



f Said to fly about twenty-six miles in an hour ; and by experiment a few years since, 

 by a gentleman in Manchester Square, London, a bird of this kind flew from Salisbury to 

 that place, a distance of 83 miles, in three hours and seven minutes, which is more than 27 

 miles per hour. But Lithgow, in his Travels, mentions a Pigeon which exceeded this ; as 

 it went from Babylon to Aleppo, which is 30 days journey, in 48 hours ! 



According to iElian, a purple thread was tied to the leg of a Pigeon, which in one day 

 flew from Pisa to iEgina.— Hist. Var. Lib. ix. 2. And Pliny relates, that Swallows have 

 been made use of for the same purpose, of conveying intelligence : but in this case they 

 were painted with various colours, as agreed on between the parties interested. — Nat. Hist. 

 Lib. x. chap. 24. 



A Carrier Pigeon flew from Norwich to London, 109 miles, in four hours and fifty-five 

 minutes, for a wager : the same bird arrived in London, from Bury, a few weeks before, in 

 three hours. — Hampshire Chronicle and Courier, August 31, 1819. 



