THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, May 11, 1858. 
thing to the Birmingham Committee, or the Crystal Palace 
Secretary ? Yet, as it appears to me, an anomaly exists in 
the prize-lists of both these leading Exhibitions, which I 
would fain see removed. Why should the entry fee be the 
same for the Single Cock classes, as for those in which three 
or four birds compete in a pen ? The object of every exhi¬ 
bitor in making each entry is twofold: he hopes to gain a 
prize, and to have an artificial value stamped on his birds, 
either for sale or to keep. For entering a pen, either of 
adults or chickens, in the general classes at Birmingham, a 
man really pays a fee of 7s. 6d.; at the Crystal Palace he is 
charged Gs. In return, he gets a chance of a share of prize 
i money, amounting to £6 or £7, and also of selling three or 
four birds at what he considers a remunerating price; 
whereas, when he is charged as much for one entry in the 
Single Cock classes, only £3 are offered for competition, and 
only one bird can get sold. Either the first fee is too favour¬ 
able, or the last too high : it is clear, that the exhibitor in 
the general classes is in a far better position than he who 
exhibits only male birds. Yet no classes are more useful to 
the public, or more remunerating to the managers, than 
those for Single Cocks; let these classes then be encouraged. 
I do not believe anyone would lose, by reducing the fee for 
these to half that charged for showing the family parties. 
Of course, where high prizes are offered for Single birds, 
extra entrance fees are quite fair.—K. 
EGGS WILL TRAVEL UNINJURED. 
As I constantly see, in your Cottage Gardener, com¬ 
plaints from correspondents about eggs not hatching when 
sent any distance by railway, I beg to say that on the 2nd of 
April I received thirteen eggs of the Pencilled Hamburgh 
breed, all of which hatched off, except one broken by acci¬ 
dent. They had travelled above 100 miles by railway, and 
were packed in a box of bran only.— Ed. Birch Reynardson, 
Little Ponton Hall, Grantham. 
PIGEONS. 
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PIGEON. 
Naturalists have, for the convenience of arranging the 
various birds, divided them into orders. These divisions being 
but few, compared with the numerous sorts of birds, of neces¬ 
sity contain different genera, the tribes comprising which, 
although they may have some slight point of resemblance to 
the characteristics of the order, yet are in themselves quite 
distinct. Each genus is again divisible into species, and each 
species into varieties. 
Thus, in the very large and numerous family which con¬ 
stitutes the genus Columbidce, many of the different species of 
which, varying greatly in form and other characteristics, make 
it uncertain to which order they belong : consequently they 
have been placed by different naturalists, sometimes among 
the Pasores , or scraping birds, and at others, among the 
Insessores, or Perch ers. 
This great difference among the various species induces me 
to divide this genus into two sub-genera, or tribes, viz., the 
Pigeons or Ground Doves, that build their nests on the earth, 
and rarely, if ever, perch ; and the true Doves, or arboreal 
Pigeons, which both build their nests and perch on trees. 
To this latter tribe belong our Ring Dove, Stock Dove, and 
Turtle Dove; while the former includes all our varieties of 
domestic Pigeons. 
In the present manual I shall confine myself almost ex¬ 
clusively to the domestic, or fancy Pigeons, simply giving a 
short notice of our native Doves, or arboreal Pigeons, to dis¬ 
tinguish them, and show their difference from our domestic 
varieties, which are also of a different species. 
All the Pigeons of which I intend writing, build a platform 
! nest, and lay but two eggs at a sitting. The young, when 
first excluded, are helpless, and are fed by the old ones from 
their crops. They feed on corn, seed, and berries, and are 
strictly monogamous. 
I lie precise species from which our domestic Pigeons are 
descended, has long been a matter of doubt. One distinguished 
naturalist supposed them to proceed from the admixture of 
our three native Doves, as the Ring Dove, Stock Dove, and 
Turtle Dove ; and in this way he accounted for their diversity 
of form. But as these Doves are of different species, and it 
being very difficult to procure a cross between them, and, when 
obtained, the offspring are sterile hybrids, I flunk nothing 
more need be said about it. The second hypothesis was, that 
they were all descended from the Stock Dove (Columba Hinas), 
and that the Blue Rock (Columba Livid), and the Dovehouse 
Pigeon (Columba Agrestis ), were the intermediate states of 
the same birds in its approach to domestication. But this 
theory evidently had its rise in the confusion that long existed 
respecting the identity of the Stock Dove, and Blue Rock 
Pigeon, which are now acknowledged, by all naturalists, to 
be distinct species. I have also found by experiment that the 
produce of the Stock Dove and domestic Pigeon are mules. 
It then remains to be seen, whether the Blue Rock, or 
Chequered Dovehouse Pigeon, has the greater claims as being 
the progenitor of the race. 
I believe that the Blue Rock is a distinct species from the 
Dovehouse. I have not, however, had any opportunity of 
trying to what extent the two will breed together, or if their 
produce would be productive, inter se, as 1 have never been 
able to procure the Blue Rock Pigeon in all its purity. But 
its wild unreclaimable nature, and its shunning, so completely, 
the abodes or neighbourhood of man, lead me to suspect that 
such is the case. 
The Dovehouse Pigeon is, on the other hand, a bird 
eminently susceptible of domestication, is everywhere found in 
that state, and a great many of the varieties of Toys, or the 
lower class fancy Pigeons, are evidently of this sort, little or 
nothing changed except in the colour of their plumage, while 
many others appear to be derived from the same source, but 
crossed with the other fancy kinds, or showing more or less 
the effect of cai*eful breeding and selection. Thus far I am 
willing to admit of their descent from one original stock, viz., 
the Chequered Dovehouse Pigeon, Columba Agrestis (Columba 
affinis of some). But when we come to examine the varied 
forms and distinct properties of many of the higher class fancy 
pigeons, I feel a great disinclination to assign them one com¬ 
mon origin ; nor do I think that even the admission of the 
Blue Rock (supposing that Pigeon will produce fertile off¬ 
spring with the Dovehouse Pigeon) is sufficient to account for 
the many varied and marked peculiarities, or that domestica¬ 
tion could so alter the form, and even nature, of the different 
breeds which continue to present the same peculiarities through 
so many generations. Of course, I do not deny the possibility 
of such a thing, but I think it very improbable, and I cannot 
divest my mind of the idea that, at least, some of the so-called 
varieties are something more. I allude to the Wattled 
Pigeons, the Fantails, the Trumpeter, the Jacobin, the Crop¬ 
pers, and the Tumblers. These birds have all certain peculiari¬ 
ties by which they may be known and distinguished, under 
whatever circumstances of form, or colour, they may be bred. 
These properties are fixed, and do not appear among other 
varieties, nor are they liable to be lost, unless cross-breeding 
is resorted to. Neither have I ever heard of their appearing 
suddenly, or from any particular plan of breeding, which we 
might expect, if they were, as some suppose, owing to taking 
advantage of some freak of Nature, or accidental malformation. 
I should incline to the belief that the various fancy Pigeons 
owe their origin, not to one particular stock, but to the 
domestication and mingling of some five or six varieties, 
or nearly allied species. These original families have long 
since become lost and obliterated, while from their mixture 
our present numerous varieties arise, the result of long domes¬ 
tication, and careful selection and breeding. 
It is on this principle, and for these reasons, I have divided 
the subjects of this manual into four divisions, as 1st, our 
Native Doves; 2ndly, Indigenous Pigeons ; 3rdly, Fancy 
Pigeons ; 4thly, Toys.— B. P. Brent. 
(To be continued.) 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
“ Information worth Notice ” {Amicus galli ).—We liave nothing 
more to say on the subject; we merely record facts for others to form 
their own conclusions from, or to induce further inquiries, if needed. 
White Dorkings (J. I). F., FasterhiU ).—Write to Captain Beard- 
more, Fareham, Hants. 
