[15] Photograph from Elmer E. Rice, Boston, Massachusetts.
Distribution in ancient times. The pigeon was domesticated at a very early stage of civilization. Like the fowl, the duck, and the goose, it was well known to all civilized peoples of antiquity. To what extent the distribution of pigeons in domestication followed the early migrations of the human race is not known. It is probable that pigeons were domesticated before the Aryan migrations began, and also that the domestic stock was sometimes taken by Aryan colonists to their new homes; but it is equally probable that at various times in the history of the earth people coming to new lands domesticated some of the wild rock pigeons which they found there.
Fig. 187. Swiss Mondaine Pigeon[16]
Fig. 188. Splashed Homer[16]
