. Our domestic birds; . Fig. 191. Young Jacobin Pigeons. (Pho-tograph from E. R. B. Chapman, Stone-ham, Massachusetts) 244 OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS no particular value. In a domestic bird the homing instinct orhabit is of service because the owner of a bird relies upon it tomake the bird return always to the place which he has provided forit, instead of taking shelter elsewhere or remaining where noc-turnal enemies will find it an easy prey. In the domestic landbirds the instinct has no further use than this, but in pigeonswhich, while thoroughly domesticated, retain full power of flight,the develop
. Our domestic birds; . Fig. 191. Young Jacobin Pigeons. (Pho-tograph from E. R. B. Chapman, Stone-ham, Massachusetts) 244 OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS no particular value. In a domestic bird the homing instinct orhabit is of service because the owner of a bird relies upon it tomake the bird return always to the place which he has provided forit, instead of taking shelter elsewhere or remaining where noc-turnal enemies will find it an easy prey. In the domestic landbirds the instinct has no further use than this, but in pigeonswhich, while thoroughly domesticated, retain full power of flight,the development of the homing faculty makes it possible to. Fig. 192. Muffed Tumblers with saddle color pattern. (Photograph fromE. R. B. Chapman, Stoneham, Massachusetts) use them as a means of communication when it is necessaryto transmit short letters with great dispatch. It. is known that pigeons were used as messengers in warabout the beginning of the Christian Era. An Egyptian bas-relief of about 1350 shows pigeons being released fromcages just as they are now released in flying matches. Thehoming instinct is so strong in the common pigeon that anyone familiar with its habits may easily suppose that pigeonswere used to carry messages almost as soon as men had devisedmeans of communication by writing upon any material which PIGEONS 245 the birds could carry in their flight. There is reason to believethat in very ancient times pigeons were bred and trained espe-cially for work of this kind in Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The pigeon which in England and America now goes by thename of Carrier Pigeon is a type developed as a messengerpigeon
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