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

THF. BLUE KOCK PIGEON.
witi their new dwelling), they betake themselves to some ruin,
tower, or steeple, or even to the eaves and cornices of some
pubho building, where birds of this description may frequently
be met with ; or, in mountainous districts, they will betake
themselves to the rocks, and join any colony of wild birds that
may happen to be there. Although a natvtraUy timid bird, the
dove-house pigeon does not, like the blue rock, shun the abode
of man."
Respecting the Uieory that the entire family of British
pigeons claim as their progenitors
the dove-honse pigeon, the same
authority observes :— " I beheve
that the blue rock is a distinct
Bpecies from the dove-house. I
have not, however, had any opportunity
of trying to what ex-
tent the two wiU breed together,
or if their produce would be pro-
^^^^ ^^^.^ ^^^^^
ductive inter se, as I have never
been able to procure the blue rock pigeon in all its purity ; but
its wild unreclaimable nature, and its shurming so completely
the abodes or neighbourhood of man, lead me to suspect that
such is the case.
" The dove-house 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 careful breeding and selection. Thus far I am willing to
admit of their descent from one original stock, viz., the
chequered dove-house pigeon, Gohimba agrestis — Gol/u/mha
affimis 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 common
origin; nor do I think that even the admission of the
blue rock (supposing that pigeon will produce fertile offspring
with the dove-house pigeon) is sufficient to account for the
many varied and marked peculiarities, or that domestication
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
;