Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1884-08-21
Carrier-Piseons:

The genuine carrier-pigeon." said
Mr. Joseph NJ Wade a few days ago.
..can fy but very little Il 5 \ bird of
ornament and high price. have known
Of $500 be ng paid for a par of them
in Philadelphia They hevs very long
beaks and are OF several c0lOrs. black.
dun. white blue-barred q ke the COM
mon mongrel pigeonl. Trey all have
large bunch Of warting on the eak.
and the larger the bunch. If OF prODcI
shape. the more valuable the bird In
England INSCRIPTIONS bird fancie-s
Sometimes cut this bunch and shove
under il q piece OF cUrk so as t6 make
il appear larger and of the standard
form II is done so nicely that one has
to inspect the bird very closely TO de-
tect the fraud. They fiy so badly aad
are 20 valuable that they are usually
ecnfihsd 20 = rbu'n or cote
.'What are, in reality, such as are
COMMONLY called carr erss
They are homing Antwe-ps. r :,
Hubbell. of Philadelphia, was the first
one to bring stock OF that kind into this
country. The poorest one he had
brought over had flown FIVE hundred
miles in direct flight They were
bought at Antwerp BY John Bailey, OF
London. who had all his expenses pail
and instructions not 10 buy any birds
that had not 1owIi i've hutsdred miles.
Mr.. HubheIl would not sell ans Of his
stock. bu: prc-snied me with 1 fe~
birds. The descendants of which hare
distributed. in different parts 6f the
country sent SIX pairs to Sen Fran
cisco soon after the completion of the
Union Pacific Railroad, and they were
the first birds of the kind that ever
went into California; arranged the
box in which they were sent myself II
contained a hopper filled with gra n.
so arranged that The grain was fed 10
them gfadusll-. IN their water tank
was a large sponge 10 prevent the water
from stopping over. and from this
sponge the birds drew their daily sup
ply. The box was not opened on tn
trip. which lasted nearly two weeks.
but the birds reached San Francisco in
excellent con lition-
The true type OF the homing Ant
werp is like the common blue pigs y,
with hlack-bs fred wings. There Is o
slight difference in the beaks, but 10 the
casual observer they are alike Some
are dun-col6rod. but whatever co'OI
they are bred the black bars on the
wings remain. They are sometimes
bred into silver din co'or. which Il
very pretty. In Europe they have becu
ka .wn 10 iiy over seven hundred mile;
without stopping In Belgium homins
excites IS much interest as horsc-racine
does in this country. The Mayor OF .
town and all the prominent citizens
viii. perhaps. participate in the sport.
and hundreds of birIls viii be entered
in the race. Some of the rOOrer bird-
never reach home. They are shot. OF
killed by birds of prev. or. perhaps.
stopping on some roof TO rest. arc killed
by Gals The winning bird IS sometimes
treated TO quite an ovation lis carr cd
through the streets with bands OF music.
etc.
'IIow are they trained 10 hy suci
long d;stanccsT'
avery gradually. by easy EtageS
Then they liy them twenty live miles.
then fly. well say. and then enc nun.
dred. and afterward it-reass very rs9-
idly. perhaps one hundred miles or mOrc
at time. until the limit is reached
Boston Gl0Je.