THE DOVE-LIKE PIGEON
Is there not something very soft and tender in the word dove and in the loving ways of this fine bird? When we speak of the Turtle-dove there rises in our mind an image of tenderness and love which never comes to us when the Pigeon is named. Yet these two are the same. Pigeon and dove are two names for one family of birds.
Long ago the species known as the rock-pigeon was tamed, and this is the one that lives with us in such numbers as one of our chief home birds. The place we keep him in is often called the dove-cot, and in this way the two names are still kept together. The wild rock-pigeon, the ancestor of our tame pigeon, is also known as the ring-dove, so that the term dove-cot fits very well.
The pigeon is our one bird of the air. The other tenants of the poultry yard have long given up the art of flying, except for a very short distance, but the pigeon is a great flyer still and spends much of its time on the wing. It is indeed one of the fastest of flyers and thinks little of a journey of a hundred miles through the air. But it never forgets its home and if taken away will wing its way straight back again.
The pigeon has been a companion of man for ages past. It is spoken of in the annals of Egypt at a date five thousand years ago and has been at home in city and village ever since. With its wonderful power of flight it seems strange that it does not leave us never to return, but as it has nothing to escape from and much to come back to, the pigeon can be trusted with the fullest liberty.
It is, in truth, a trusty bird, gentle and lively in nature, fond of society and faithful to its own. It loves its home, and tenderly caresses its mate, with a graceful show of affection. Under its name of the dove it has long been held as the emblem of peace and innocence, and the phrase "billing and cooing," so often applied to lovers, is taken from its love-making methods.
In the old countries of Asia the pigeon was held to be a sacred bird. In Greece it was the bird of Venus and was kept in great flocks around the temples of this goddess. From Greece it spread to Rome and thence to all Europe, and in time became the Christian symbol of immortal life, the white dove being looked upon as the bearer of souls to heaven. This idea still survives and less than two weeks ago I saw a beautiful white pigeon set free over a grave and fly upward as one on a heavenly errand.
In the city of Venice the pigeon is a favorite bird that has won the affection of the people. Clouds of them circle around the cupola of St. Mark's church and the roof of the Doge's palace, and the man who sought to catch or harm them would do so at peril of death from the people.
Birds build all sorts of nests, some good, some bad, some very bad. Those of the wild pigeon belong among the very bad, and there is a reason for this, if we can believe a story that is told about our feathered friend.
This story says that the father of all the pigeons tried his best to make a good nest but kept making bad ones. In the end he asked the magpie, who made fine nests, to show him how it was done. He agreed to give the magpie a cow in return for a lesson. After watching the magpie for a few minutes he said that he knew all he wanted to and would not give the cow.
A judge was called to settle this case, the verdict being that the pigeon had broken his contract and could not claim any further lessons. So ever since that time the pigeon has built the worst kind of nests.
The pigeon nest-builder is here spoken of as "he," for it is the male bird that builds the nest, the duty of the female being to supply the eggs. And he also takes part in sitting on the two eggs with which the female begins her brood. The young pigeon is a blind and helpless bird when it comes from the egg. It is at first fed with a sort of broth made in the crop of its parents, and all through its bird babyhood it needs close care, both from its father and mother and from its owners.
A dainty and pretty bird it grows to be, one that charms us by its fine shape and its rich colors,—blue, gray, red, yellow, white or brown,—also by its swift and graceful flight. It needs to trust to its wings to escape its enemies, for neither its claws nor its beak are made for fighting. But its eyes are sharp and its great swiftness saves it from harm. So keen is its sight that it can see a morsel of food, such as a pea or seed, at a long distance. A quick swoop, and it has the food in its beak.
Much might be said about the care of the dove-cot or pigeon-house, but it is too long a story to be given here. We can only say that much needs to be done in keeping the house clean and fit for its purpose and in caring for the birds. Its diet is made up of peas, beans, corn, oats, barley and potato, with hemp seed for a special delicacy, while it picks up many other bits of food in its daily flights.
It is wonderful how many kinds of tame pigeons have come from their wild ancestor, the rock-pigeon. Of no other animal except the dog are there so many and it is hard to believe that they all came from one source. A few of them may be named, for the whole list is far too large for our space.
Among the various kinds may first be named the Tumbler pigeon. This bird flies to a great height, then sinks and soars in circles and curves, turning somersaults in the air. All at once it drops down in nearly a straight line; then stops short, hovers on its spread wings, and flies upward to begin the play again. A flock of these tumblers will keep in the air for hours at a time, enjoying themselves and pleasing their friends below. Of these tumblers there are many varieties, different in color, shape and size.
A very odd kind of pigeon is the Pouter, in which the breast stands out until it is like a great food chest, for the swelling is due to the great size of the upper stomach. As a result the head is thrown back almost out of sight behind this swollen chest. This gives the bird a sulky, pouting air, from which comes its name of pouter.
Of the other kinds we may speak of the Frilled pigeons, with the breast feathers frizzed like a shirt frill; the Fan-tails, the tails of which spread out in the fashion of those of the peacock; the Russian Drum-pigeons, which do not coo, but make a sound like the roll of a drum; the Capuchin, with a white hood and tail and a dark tuft on its forehead; and the Lark, Magpie, Swallow, and Starling-necked pigeons, all with something to suggest these titles.
So far we have said nothing of the Carrier pigeon, for that claims a place for itself. It is a bird of noble bearing, with no show of fine feathers, since it looks more like a wild than a tame bird, but with a splendid power of flight, one which no other pigeon can match. Its great value is that when taken to a long distance it has a wonderful power of finding its way home. This makes it of much use as a messenger bird, a kind of natural telegraph which was used centuries before any other telegraph was thought of.
Pigeon Types. Carrier and Short Faced Tumbler
No one knows how the carrier pigeon finds its way home. Most likely its keen power of sight has much to do with this. When set free, it flies upward into the air in widening circles to a great height, as if trying to see something known to it in the far distance. In the end it darts off in a straight line, which ends only when it has reached its mate in the home dove-cot. Of course it needs to be trained to this by shorter flights, but a well-trained pigeon will find its home when a hundred miles or more away. The message is written on a piece of very thin, light paper, tied under the bird's wing or to its leg.
The history of the carrier pigeon goes far back in time. In the days of ancient Greece winners in the public games sent word of their victory to their friends by pigeon post. A real pigeon postal-system was founded in the Arabian empire by the Sultan Noureddin, who died in 1174, and this was kept up until 1258, when Bagdad, the capital, was taken and destroyed by the Mongols.
In later years, during the wars of Napoleon, large gains are said to have been made by the Rothschilds, the famous bankers, who received news of great events by pigeon post and used those news for stock buying and selling. The newspaper press has also made much use of messenger pigeons. The greatest case of this was in 1870, when the city of Paris was besieged by the German army and all the telegraph wires were down. News was sent out from Paris, in microscopical writing so fine that a single bird could carry thousands of messages at once. Military pigeons are still trained for use in case any war should arise. In the German city of Cologne there is a station with five or six hundred pigeons, trained to fly to the fortified places of the empire.