228 
VERTEBRATA. 
THE STOCK-DOVE. THE BOCK-DOVE. 
in all colors, but is often mottled with black and white. It is a good breeder. The Tumbler^ 
which derives its name from the fact that it overbalances itself in its flight, is ahnost as large as 
the stock-dove. Its beak is short, and the naked circle of the eye is red. The Jacobine-Pigeon 
is a small bird, with a short beak, and having at the top of the neck a collar or stripe of long 
feathers. In color it resembles the shield-pigeon. The Peacock or Fan-tailed Pigeon is like the 
swallow-pigeon in color, but has the power of spreading out its tail like a peacock. The Perri- 
wigged Pigeon resembles the veiled pigeon in color, but has a high forehead, a short beak, and a 
crest, which passes down the sides of the neck and breast like a wig. The Pouter is a large 
pigeon, of various colors. It has a high forehead, a short beak, and possesses the power of inflat- 
ing the crop to a very large size. The Turkish Pigeon is a large bird, of various colors, Avhich 
has the membrane of the beak, as well as the circle of the eyes, very thick and wrinkled. 
The Carrier-Pigeon is supposed by some to be a distinct species, though it is generally regarded 
as a variety of the house-dove. All the tribes of pigeons are uot only swift of flight, but they have 
an intense love of home, and a remarkable power of discovering their way home from long 
distances. These capacities arc possessed in a high degree by the carrier, and hence it has 
been celebrated from the i"emotest antiquity. Anacreon immortalized it as the bearer of epistles. 
Pliny mentions its use by beleaguered cities. "When Modena was invested, he says : " Of what 
avail were sentinels, circumvallations, or nets obstructing the river, when intelligence could be 
conveyed by aerial messengers ?" In the time of the Crusades these birds were extensively cm- 
ployed by the people of the invested cities ; and there are instances mentioned in which the 
pigeon was captured by the besiegers, and made the bearer of a very diS'ercnt message from that 
with which it was originally charged. In some cases hawks were kept by the besieging parties 
for the express purpose of being flown at and intercepting the carriers. These birds have been 
also used for the purposes of commerce as avcII as those of war. When the Turkey Company of 
England was flourishing, and a number of English merchants were resident at Aleppo, the grand 
emporium of the trade, carrier-pigeons were employed to bring intelligence from the port to the 
city. Scanderoon, the port of Aleppo, is distant about eighty miles, as the bird flies. The pigeon 
could bring intelligence over this distance in about three hours, while it could not corao by any 
other channel in much less than the same number of days. Thus, those merchants who em- 
