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. This valuable faculty has long been utilized, especially in the East.
The Romans made use of Pigeons as messengers. Pliny says that this means was employed by Brutus and Hirtius to concert together during the siege of a town by Mark Antony. At the siege of Leyden, in 1574, the Prince of Orange employed Carrier Pigeons to carry on a correspondence with the besieged town, which he succeeded in freeing. The Prince, to mark his acknowledgment of the services rendered by these wise Birds, wished them to be fed with strawberries, and their bodies to be embalmed after death.
We learn from Pierre Belon, the Naturalist, that in his time navigators from Egypt and Cyprus took Pigeons upon their galleys, and liberated them when they had arrived at the port of destination, in order to announce to their families their safe journey. In our century they have been made use of for similar purposes.
Under the name of Phasianidae, the Pheasants form a distinct family, which is divided into several groups of Birds and Domestic Fowls which have similar characteristics. Not only our well known Pheasants, but the Peacocks, Guinea Fowls, Turkeys, Currassows, Bankiva Fowl, Tragopans, and the Argus are all grouped in this family, because they all have short bills, wings so short that they cannot fly readily, brilliant plumage, and tails largely developed, forming the greatest beauty of the Bird in many instances.
The Pheasant, especially, is remarkable for the length of its tail; the middle feathers of which in one species, known as Reeve’s Pheasant, sometimes attain a length of seven or eight feet.
The Silver Pheasant and the Golden Pheasant are two beautiful species. The former is clothed in a black and white costume that gives it a fine silvery appearance. The latter is brilliantly clothed in purple and gold, and bears a golden yellow crest on its head, with a handsome circular collar effect; and the tail of the Golden Pheasant is very long and showy.