As long ago as the days of the great Roman Empire pigeons were employed
as message-bearers. Since that time both the breed and training of
carriers have so steadily improved that to-day the accounts of their
intelligence and skill are almost marvellous.
In Belgium and Turkey, perhaps, of all the countries of Europe, the most
perfect results have been achieved, though Germany and France have
established government dépôts, educating the birds for practical use in
time of war or other necessity.
In America the carrier is used chiefly for sporting, and pigeon-racing
has become quite common. Associations have been formed all over the
country for the purpose of perfecting the stock, and having frequent
trials of speed, and so lively and wide-spread an interest is taken in
the sport that there is a general desire to know more of the birds and
the means by which their remarkable instincts are developed.
As the name implies, "homing" pigeons are birds which possess so strong
a love for home that their first impulse when free is to return there.
They are so keen of sense that they are able to find their way back even
from distances of several hundred miles, and in an incredibly short
time.
The pigeon now known as the carrier was probably originally used for
homing. Its usefulness in that direction, however, has long since
departed; it is to-day simply a fancy bird, and a carrier by courtesy
only.
The name "homing" is not given to any one variety of pigeons, several
kinds possessing the faculty. They are all large in frame, and resemble
the carrier in appearance, being undoubtedly descended from the same
stock. They are easily raised and easily taught, and the pleasure
derived from the teaching amply repays the little care required. A boy
can certainly find no more absorbing occupation for his spare hours, and
with a little patience can train a bird very successfully.
In the first place, the "loft," as the pigeon-cote is called, should be
lofty. The birds are very keen of vision, it is true, but so great a tax
is made upon their keenness that we should aid them all we can;
therefore build your cote so high that it can be readily distinguished
among surrounding objects.
As they are likely to return from a flight at any hour, the loft must be
so arranged as to admit the birds at all times, while egress is
permitted only at the owner's pleasure. Either or both of two very
simple devices will meet this need. One is a square opening in the roof
large enough to allow the passage within of a bird with folded wings,
but too small to permit its outward flight with wings spread. The other
is a wire drop door, which yields easily to pressure from the outside,
and falling after the pigeon has entered, keeps him a prisoner.
Having prepared the loft, in buying be careful to select only young
birds. Old ones, if good for anything, will upon the first opportunity
return to the home from which you have taken them. Remember, in
training, that the simple secret of success lies in teaching your bird
to know its home and its vicinity thoroughly.
To aid you in this, let your cote be provided with a broad wire-inclosed
ledge, from which the pigeons may have an uninterrupted view of the
neighborhood even while confined. Their education may begin as soon as
they are grown. Commence it by carrying them half a mile from home in a
covered basket, and loosing them by tossing well up in the air. If made
of the right stuff, they will rise high enough to command a good view,
then fly directly to the loft. Should any fail to do so, they are little
loss to the brood, and had far better show their uselessness at an early
stage of their training than later. So waste no time in regrets over any
such good-for-naughts; they are not worth it.
Those that return should be taken out again, the day following, about
the same distance, but in a different direction, and this process
continued until they are perfectly familiar with all the landmarks
within half a mile of home. When this has been accomplished, half the
battle is won.
The distances may then be increased, by one or two mile stages, up to
ten miles, always loosing the birds hungry. From ten miles advance by
five-mile steps to twenty-five miles, and thence by ten-mile increases
to fifty miles. Long flights must be gone over by longer or shorter
stages, depending upon the smartness of the pigeon in training. It is
almost useless to expect one to reach home over a wholly unknown route.
The probabilities are that some of the birds will fail to reach the cote
in almost every flight. This is to be expected, and the young trainer
may be reconciled to their loss by the thought that those that have
returned have proved themselves all the more worthy of his care and
instruction.
Their speed is almost beyond belief, thirty, sixty, and even ninety
miles an hour being recorded of them--a rate which would carry one
across the Atlantic in three days.
Aside from the pure sport derived from their rearing, the practical uses
to which their intelligence may be put are very many.
During the siege of Paris a daily pigeon-post was established, by means
of which persons within the beleaguered city were enabled to correspond
with friends without.
The messages, were printed and photographed microscopically upon a very
thin film of paper, which was rolled in a quill, and fastened to the leg
or one of the tail feathers. At intervals numbers of the pigeons were
returned in balloons, so that constant communication was had. Country
doctors in England long employed carriers to convey medicines to distant
patients, and only a few days since it was announced that the Prussian
government had determined to make use of them in the coasting service to
establish communication with the light-ships lying off the coast of the
North Sea. Since 1876 experiments with them have been made with great
success. Such communication is of the utmost importance not only to the
light-ships themselves, but to incoming vessels that may be in distress.
Birds are being bred and trained especially for this service, and a
number have made the distance from light-ship to shore--thirty-five
miles--in thirty minutes, and that in the face of a heavy gale. News of
distress can be thus sent to the land with the greatest dispatch and
under circumstances when life may depend upon the loss of a moment; a
single "homer" may be the means of saving a crew.
At this season of the year particularly very many trials of speed are
taking place, and often birds are on the way home a number of days,
returning long after they have been given up.
Raising homing pigeons is a pursuit which all who are fond of pets must
enjoy, and one which the boys would do well to engage in.