Beeton's book of poultry and domestic animals - Thurman Lodge ...

OEBIGN PIGEONS.
of the proportion of time and space whioli their courses occupy,
their swiftness has been often compared with that of quadrupeds
in their great progressions, whether natural or forced. The
stag, the reindeer, and the elk, can traverse forty leagues in a
single day; the reindeer, harnessed to a sledge, can make ajourney
of thirty leagues, and can contiuue so for many days in succes-
sion ; the camel can travel three, hundred leagues in eight
days ; the horse, trained for the race, and chosen from among
the lightest and most vigorous, can perform a league in six or
seven minutes; but his speed soon relaxes, and he would be
incapable of supporting a longer career with the spirit and
celerity with which he set out. But the swiftness of birds
is considerably greater than that of such animals. In less
than , three minutes we lose sight of a large bird ; of a kite,
for example, which proceeds horizontally, or an eagle, which
flies vertically, and the diameter of whose extent on the wing is
more than four feet. From this we may infer that the bird
traverses more than a space of four thousand five hundred feet
in a minute, and that he can fly twenty leagues in an hour.
Pietro deUa Valle says, that in Persia the carrier pigeon makes
greater way in one day than the swiftest human runner can in
six,"
rOEEIGN PIGEONS.
The OohimMdcB, or pigeon family, are distinguished from
the poultry and the gaUinaceous birds in general by the possession
of certain peculiarities, of which the following may be
said to be the chief:—BiU arched towards the tip, and with a
convex swelling at the base, caused by a sort of gristly patch,
which covers the nostrils, and which, in some species, is curi-
ously developed. Again, nearly all the gaUinaceous birds are
polygamous, and lay a great number of eggs each time they
incubate, which, in the temperate zones, is rarely more than
twice a year, while the true pigeons lay only two eggs each
time and incubate frequently during the year. Finally, in the
gallinaceous birds, the hind toe is articulated on the tarsus
higher than the others, and only touches the ground with
its claws; whereas, the pigeons possess a -posterior toe, upon
the same plan as the anterior toe, touching the ground
throughout its length in walking and embracing the perch
when the bird is at roost.
The distribution of the pigeon family is very extensive ; the