Carrier pigeon

“ Carrier-pigeons are a particular breed of pigeon which have the wonderful quality of flying home no matter how far away they are carried.
Societies have been formed to fly these wonderful birds, and they have been taken hundreds of miles away, over seas, to test this strange quality. ”

“ The Carrier Pigeon, which is easily distinguished from others by a broad circle of naked white skin round each eye, and by the dark bluish colour of its plumage, is remarkable for the celerity and certainty with which it has been known to convey letters from distant parts. This arises from the natural attachment which the birds have for the places where they have been bred. The mode of employing them is to take them to the spot whence intelligence is to be brought, to tie the letter under their wing, and let them loose. ”

“ Even from a well-trained hawk, under the most favourable circumstances, a carrier pigeon ought to be able in nine cases out of ten to make good its escape by reason of the velocity and altitude of its flight. Depend upon it that in all time to come ballooning and pigeon carrying will be employed by a besieged city, as Paris employs them now; and while gas can be had to inflate a balloon, and a carrier-pigeon is available, there is nothing that a besieging force can do to prevent the constant voyaging of such aerial messengers. ”

“ The carrier-pigeon's power to circle is a most remarkable feature, but nevertheless it has its limit. Pigeons that are used for long-distance flight are trained over the whole distance in short flights, so the bird may become familiar with landmarks. ”

“ But there are many fancy breeds—such as the fan-tail, the powter, the tumbler, the ruffler, and perhaps another variety or two—all pretty birds, and each distinct in their appearance, and in some of their domestic habits. The most beautiful of the pigeon kind, however, is the Carrier. They are the very perfection of grace, and symmetry, and beauty. Their colors are always brilliant and changing, and in their flight they cleave the air with a rapidity which no other variety—indeed, which scarce any other bird, of any kind, can equal. ”

“ If a common pigeon, accustomed to using almost exclusively its five senses, and a carrier pigeon broken to long voyages, are carried about 10 kilometers away from the cote, when they are successively released an interesting fact is noticeable—the ordinary pigeon, going by sight, will usually make its way much more rapidly than the carrier pigeon, who will find its way back carefully with the aid of its sense of direction. ”

“ Those of Mesopotamia are the most famous in the world, and the Babylonian carrier pigeon is employed even on ordinary occasions at Bagdad. The geographical locality, therefore, of the carrier pigeon, it is interesting to remember, is in the vicinity of those very mountains where the ark finally rested. With us the carrier pigeon is an exotic, and is now acclimated, or naturalized. ”

“ The carrier-pigeon is a bird. It should not be confounded with the elephant or hippopotamus, and only the most ignorant persons would suppose any connection between them. It flies through the air, as birds generally do, and though not lazy it lays. The eggs of this bird are valuable. When properly hatched they produce young pigeons, which often grow up and go into the express business like their parents. ”

“ Although nearly every European army for 40 years has trained the carrier pigeon to be a field messenger, the American Army never adopted the bird until 1917. In a single year the Signal Corps established hundreds of pigeon lofts in this country and overseas and bought and trained more than 15,000 pigeons for service in France. In actual use on the field the pigeons delivered more than 95 per cent of the messages intrusted to them, flying safely through the heaviest shell and gas barrages. ”

“ Dining car No. 211, attached to the Great Northern trains running between Seattle, Portland, and Spokane, has acquired a mascot in the shape of a carrier pigeon that apparently prefers the hazardous existence of a railroader to wild, free life on the wing. The pigeon was found lying half frozen near the depot, and one of the porters took the pigeon into the kitchen and fed and warmed it back to life, and the grateful bird responded to the kind treatment by refusing to leave when it had completely recovered. ”

“ The birds can be trusted to fly at night; they retain for a long time the memory of their home, and spare no pains to return to it.
The homing power of the carrier pigeon appears to be a special development of a natural capacity, as is also its swiftness and endurance in flight. ”

“ One result of this war will be that carrier pigeons will be bred in larger numbers, and more highly valued than ever—carrier pigeon dovecots in each city at the public expense—while aerial navigation by means of balloons, having lost much of its terrors, will more and more become a common and every-day mode of locomotion. ”

“ Seventy-two miles in two and one-half hours, a hundred and eighty in four and one-half, have been accomplished by carrier pigeons. Large numbers of these birds are now kept in England, Belgium, France, etc., there being numerous pigeon clubs which hold pigeon races to test the speed of the birds. ”

“ Harry Harm, the son of a Columbia grocer, has found a practical use for a lot of carrier-pigeons. It used to take him half a day to gather orders, half a day to fill them, and half a day to deliver; but now, thanks to the pigeons, the work is done in one day. When Mr. Harm starts he takes a crate of pigeons along in his wagon, and after he secures a few orders he takes the duplicate order-slips, which are of thin paper, puts them in a tiny roll on a pigeon’s leg, and the bird is liberated. ”

“ It bowled me over when I heard what happened to our brave little pigeon. Some fool took a shot at it, somewhere near the station probably, for it managed to keep going till it got home. Then, just as it reached the floor of its loft, it fell dead. A bell always rings as a carrier alights on the balanced platform. When the attendant answered the summons he found the pigeon lying there, one foot shot away, and blood on its little white breast. It had managed to fly the last part of its way, mortally wounded. ”

“ 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. ”

“ He must change disabled runners and fill gaps in his chain. It becomes his duty to instill into the runners the importance of their duty.
(f) Carrier Pigeons: Carrier pigeons are the last means of communication. They have been found to give excellent service during heavy shelling or gas attacks. They do not fly very easily at night.
Each command post of a center of resistance in the first line has a pigeon post. These consist of two reliefs of men, four pigeons, and the necessary equipment and food. The pigeons themselves have to be relieved every few days. ”

“ Of balloons and ballooning we have no practical experience; of carrier pigeons we do know something, the bird being as well-known to us as is a robin redbreast to a gardener. We kept them for some time, but were obliged to get quit of them on account of their ineradicable propensity to purloin our neighbours’ turnip seed from the drill immediately after being sown and before they got time to sprout. All pigeons have this habit, but the carrier worse and more persistently than any other. ”

“ What you see are a cross between the carrier and tumblers, the Antwerp breed of carrier pigeons. Bluish, reddish, spotted birds. I don’t care for the colors, but they must have small bodies and large wings, with broad quills on their flag-feathers, and above all ample muscular strength. The one yonder stop, I’ll catch him—is one of my best flyers. Try to lift his pinions.”
“Heaven knows the little thing has marrow in its bones! How the tiny wing pinches; the falcons are not much stronger.” ”

“ Often intelligence is demanded in a hurry, must be had at any cost. For a time carrier pigeons were used with success. They cried, however, their own warning. There aren't many carrier pigeons in the conquered provinces now. To be found with one on your property amounts to a condemnation to death. I was surprised to learn that Germany and France both experiment with them still. I was told that an airman not long before had come across the lines at night and dropped a basket full of pigeons in a lonely spot. ”

“ I must needs send some to William the Silent at Delft, else we will get no more messages from him.”
“Aye, I can bind two and take them at the bottom of my bag of herbs,” answered Gysbert. “I will wager for it that they shall be delivered safely.” Adrian Van der Werf spent a moment in silent consideration.
“Thou art a brave and clever youth,” he said. “But thou must know that thou art risking much in this hazardous enterprise. However, God will watch over those who serve Him. Come to me to-morrow bringing two carrier pigeons, and I will instruct thee as to the message.” ”

“ For communicating more detailed, interesting information, we decided to rely on carrier pigeons. It would not be easy for us, besides our clothing and money, to carry pigeons with us, and furthermore, it would be absolutely impossible to travel for twenty miles in enemy territory with birds which in case of capture would at once reveal to the enemy our intentions. We must find some system for delivering the birds on the territory established as our headquarters. ”

“ The Carrier Pigeons belong to this race. They are celebrated for their attachment to their birthplace, or to the spot that contains their young, and for the intelligence which enables them to regain their native countries from whatever distance. Transport them miles from their homes, even in a well-closed basket, then give them their liberty, and they will return, without the slightest hesitation, to the place from which they were taken. ”

“ The body is elevated, the throat swells, the eyes sparkle. He continues his notes, and now and then rises on the wing, and flies a few yards to approach the fugitive and timorous female. Like the domestic pigeon and other species, they caress each other by billing, in which action, the bill of the one is introduced transversely into that of the other, and both parties alternately disgorge the contents of their crops by repeated efforts. These preliminary affairs are soon settled, and the pigeons commence their nests in general peace and harmony. ”

“ I was to throw the bird up there—which I duly did—and knowing the hour the train was due there, its owner could thus judge of its flying powers from the time it took to regain the loft in London.
By many people, it is believed that the homing pigeon is guided in its wonderful flights by some special instinct; others think that sight alone is the bird’s guide. In the far-distant past, long before railways, telegraphs, or telephones were dreamt of, pigeons were used to convey intelligence of all kinds from distant quarters ”

“ Now and then a distant shot tells us that we are not the first hunters out afield this morning. The guns are cracking everywhere along the road that skirts the woodland, and back in, close to the 'chopping,' some better wing-shots are posted by the openings into the woods where the birds fly lower, but where the shooting is more difficult. It is largely of the 'pick your bird' style, for the flight of a pigeon is very swift, and when they are darting among the tree-tops of a small forest opening, rare skill is required to bag one's birds. ”

“ THERE are hundreds and perhaps thousands of the younger readers of The Oölogist who have never seen a Passenger Pigeon alive. In fact, there are many who have never seen a skin or stuffed specimen, for the species is so rare now that very few of the younger collectors have had an opportunity of shooting a bird. ”

“ The alighting of land-birds on ships close in shore, when the vessels are "making the land," is not an uncommon occurrence; but that a Bronze-wing Pigeon should have found a haven on a disabled vessel five hundred miles from the nearest land is indeed singular. This Pigeon is a short-flight bird, and, although it travels long distances during the hours of a long summer's day, it does it with frequent rests. ”

“ Before alighting, the wild pigeon, like the Carolina parrot and a few other species of birds, breaks the force of its flight by repeated flappings, as if apprehensive of receiving injury from coming too suddenly into contact with the branch or the spot of ground on which it intends to settle. ”

“ Swift of flight and shapely in body is the North American wild pigeon, running upon the air fleeter than Anacreon's dove. He can lay any latitude under contribution in a few hours, flying incredible distances during the process of digestion. He is an ornament to the air, and the pot also.—Here might be a descendant of Bryant's waterfowl; but its journeyings along the pathless coast of the upper atmosphere are at an end.
"All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds." ”