THE CARRIER PIGEON. 
The Carrier Pigeon is distinguished from all 
others, by a broad circle of naked white skin 
which surrounds the eyes, and by the colour 
of the plumage, which is of a dark blue in- 
clining to black. From their attachment to 
their native place, these birds are employed in 
several countries as the most expeditious car- 
riers of letters ; and formerly they were com- 
monly used in conveying letters from place to 
place in time of war, and in case of sieges, 
when all other means of communication were 
intercepted, or cut off by the enemy. These 
birds have been known to fly at the rate of 
seventy-two miles in the space of two hours 
and a half. One of them will carry a letter 
from Babylon to Aleppo in forty-eight hours, 
though the journey generally occupies a man 
for thirty days. 
( 84 ) 
