ANTWERP CAIiPJERS. 
321 
Space than a goose-quill, and securely fastened Avitli silk or fine wire 
between two of the tail feathers ; or sometimes it is rolled round the 
shank of the leg, and fastened with twine or worsted. There is a 
smaller bird of this variety, called the Antwerp Carrier, which is 
comparatively rare. The plumage is mostly mealy, with bright 
brown bars across the wings ; the neck has a reddish tint ; the fore- 
head is full and round ; and the eyes, like pink- tinted pearls, are full 
and glittering. They are shy and restless, and difficult birds to 
keep, if away from their native homes, to which they will be likely 
to retiu^n, if they are set at liberty. 
The * Liege,' or ' Short-faced Antwerp,' is supposed to be a cross 
between the Owl and the Turbit, two sorts of Pigeons which are 
common in the Low Countries, from whence that variety generally 
comes. The colour of its plumage is generally a mealy blue, or blue 
chequered. Fanciers call this bird * the true,' and consider it more 
desirable than its more unsocial relative, because it soon becomes 
reconciled to a new home, and remains there. Fifty-six of these 
birds, brought from Liege to London, were, in July 1828, let loose 
in the neighbourhood of Aldersgate, at thirty-four minutes past four 
A.M., and all of them reached home by noon of the same day ; the 
first accomplishing the distance, reckoned at about 300 miles, at 
twenty-four minutes past ten the same morning. In July 1829, in 
* a flight against time,' forty-one birds were loosed at Maestricht, and 
the foremost one lost, although its speed averaged forty-five miles an 
hour. This will show wdiat a Carrier Pigeon is expected to do. 
The Carriers are neither such prolific breeders nor attentive parents 
as many other varieties ; therefore, it is best for those who wish to 
possess them to purchase the eggs of some trustworthy dealer, and 
place them under a better setter. It is unsafe to buy old Carriers, 
as they will seldom remain in their new home. 
It is a disputed question whether Carrier Pigeons are guided by 
sight, or by some mysterious instinct similar to that which guides 
the migratory birds in their long journeys through the air. Phreno- 
logists say that the precision with which they fly from point to point 
is due to an excitement of the organ of locality ; and electro-biologists 
affirm that some magnetic influence enables the birds to do this. 
We can only briefly mention these various theories, without pre- 
tending to adjudicate between them. There is no doubt that, as an 
advocate of phrenology observes, * Among these animals, as among 
men, some are more easily taught than others ; and the fanciers dis- 
tinguish, the best birds by the height and fullness of the membrane 
above the nostrils (where the organ of locality is said to be) ; and 
the method they practise to set oiF an indifferent bird is to raise 
this membrane, and puff up the part, by stuffing ]3ieces of cork under 
it. This is one of ' the tricks of the trade,' against which the novice 
will have to be on his guard ; and no trade appears to be more full 
of tricks than Pigeon-dealing. 
In confirmation of the sight theory, it may be mentioned that the 
