Popular Errors about Homixg P/gro.vs. 
269 
As infinite as were the lips that drank; 
And, to the pure, all innocent and pure : 
The simplest still, to wisest men the best. 
One made acquaintanceship with plants and flowers, 
And happy grew in telling all their names ; 
One classed the quadrupeds, a third, the fowls ; 
Another found in minerals his joy; 
And I have seen a man — a worthy man, 
In happy mood, conversing with a fly, 
As he, through his glass, made by himself, 
Beheld its wondrous eye and plumage fine, 
From leaping scarce he kept, for perfect joy.’ 
“In treating of the homing pigeon, I hasten at once to acknowledge my indc 
two works of M. Chappuis ; to one of the organs of the Belgian Pigeon Societies, viz., L' Epervier ; 
and to the hints and experience of many valued friends, from which I have been enabled to 
supplement my own experience and observations. 
“ The first thing that challenges comment is the name by which the bird should be known. 
Among those not conversant with pigeon lore, there is a general impression that the birds used 
for homing purposes are all classed under one designation, that of ‘ carriers,’ because they ‘ carry ’ 
messages or information. This, of course, is not correct, as all versed amateurs well know ; but 
for the information of the general feader, it may be well to state at the outset that the carrier 
pigeon, properly so-called, is the bird now exhibited at every show in various whole colours, with a 
remarkable excrescence, or wattle; growing to an enormous size round the eye and the base of the 
beak. This bird is bred for show purpdses to ah ideal standard of perfection, and is not used for 
flying at all, being in no way adapted for that end, and being far too valuable to be sent out on a 
journey. This bird has been treated of in an eafly part of the present volume. The birds used 
for flying, or ‘ homing,’ as it is termed, are df a much more common type, as may be seen from 
our coloured plate, which gives portraits of well-known and good performers. Some long-faced 
birds, as Dragoons, for instance, are Used for homing purposes, as are also birds of the type of 
very long-faced Beards, and even occasionally Owls have been flown ; but the generally-adopted 
homing bird, the subject of our investigation and consideration, is the only type with which it 
is necessary to deal. Much misconception prevails in the public mind as to the habits of these 
birds. For instance, it is a notion very generally entertained that all one has to do to send 
a message by a pigeon is to catch the bird, tie a letter, no matter how large, to its body, no 
matter how clumsily, and then send it off to the required destination, from its home or to its 
home. This appears so utterly absurd to the amateur as to need no refutation, the fact being 
that these birds fly to their home only. It is their innate love of home, their dislike to change, 
which causes them to seek their old habitation as speedily as possible ; therefore it is that 
they are called ‘homing birds;’ and a better or more expressive name cannot surely be required. 
On the Continent they are termed ‘ les pigeons voyageurs.’ In England they have been called, 
indiscriminately, ‘ carriers,’ ‘ messenger pigeons,’ ‘ couriers,’ ‘ travellers,’ &c. ; but I am of the very 
decided opinion that the name now generally used, and which appears at the head of this chapter, 
is the best that can be used, being most comprehensive and explanatory of the distinctive faculty 
of which the bird is possessed. 
“ It is not germane to my purpose now to go into the traditional history of the use of pigeons as 
a means of communication during very early ages. Suffice it to say, therefore, that it is men- 
tioned in this connection by Anacreon and Pliny ; and tradition says that Taurosthenes, when a 
