The Lincoln County herald., 1871-01-05
Children's Department.
THE CURIOUS CARRIER.
PIGEON.

Some birds, like men, love home more
than others. Long seo, wheu there vac
no steamboats,, railroads. or telegrsphs, il
was found that certain kind Of pigeon
has this love Of home 20 strong, that IL
one Of them is osrried . very great die
sance, and then set free, Il would Ay di
rectly back, and 60 IL happened that
these pigeons came to DO used to carry
letters from place to place. They we're.
therefore, called the Carrier. Pigeons.
Before this they had been classed with
the stock pigeons, 80 called, because i.
vas supposed that from them, as the
stock Or stem, oil other pigeons had
come.
The Carrier is larger than other pig
cons, being from fourteen to seventeen
inches from the tip Of the beak to the
end Of the toll. The wings are long and
broad, admirably suited for fight. The
color is very dark blue, or nearly black {;
and around the eyes there is a broad,
reddish colorej circle Of naked skin.
When . message is to be sent by a
pigeon, tho bird is carried from its home
ususlIy when there are young in its nest
as though it were to be sent with news
Thus, people who expect letters by the
Carrier. Pigeon, watch the nest as we
watch the Post-C ice. The pigeon can.
not be sent abroad with messages it
only carries toward its own home, and
must always be allowed to start before |.
has made up its mind that the place to
which it has been brought Is to be q new
homo for It,
The letter is tied under the birds wing
by a cord passing around the body in
front Of the wings. The faithful little
creature is then takca into the open air
and let loose when, remembering its
home, and the little brood in the nest, it
rises high in the air, circling round and
round as it goes up, and then sets off in
the right direction, never making mis-.
take, and flies at the rate Of thirty, forty,
or even more miles an hour.
If the journey is very long, the bird
sometimes a!ieh,s in search Of water, and
ruins the letter by wetting it. To pre-
vent this, the messages are often closely
sealed, aud thea covered with thin var
nish to protect them from injury by
water. sometimes the pigeons feet are
bathed in vinegar to keep them cool, and
prevent severe thirst. But, unless hun
ger or thirst compe!s them to stop, the
Carrier, knowing nothing of the service
it is performing, or why it was taken
away fro n its home, goes steadily on till
it delivers the message.
One of the most remarkable accounts
l have ever heard of the fea.s Of the Car.
rier Pigeon, is that Of one which the
Arctic discovcrer, Sir John Ross, let
loose at Wellington Sound, within the
Arctic Circle, on the 9th day Of October,
1850. The bird few away across the
cold waters of the Atlantic, and reached
its home in Ayrshire, Scotland, in seven
days, having flown two thousand miles.
But how do these birds gain the knowl
edge which guides them? No man
knows, They certainly are not guided
by hearing, seeing. or smelling for they
have been carried long distances, SO
closely shut up, that it was impossible
for them to learn the way by the aid Of
those senses, and yet they return with
perfect accuracy. AL we can say about
it is, that God in His matchless wisdom,
has put within them something which we
cannot understand. They obey it, and
arc always risht.-Bright Side.