The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-12
HowoARR1ER PIGEONS e rHERE.
ny Ordinary methods Extraordinarily Skill
fully Combined. Say Experts.

fully Combined, Say R1perts.
From the Literary Digest.
The faculty possessed by many animals for
finding their way home through an unknown
region has always been more or less Of a mys-
terry. 1t rises to It's height in the case of q car
rier pigeon, and its would-be explainers fall back
on expedients that range all the way from q
mysterious special sense of ''orlentation' down
to everyday ordinary observation of landmarks,
such as man uses when he finds his way. Most
authorities are now inclined to take q middle
course and believe that the pigeon finds its way
by methods more or less ordinary, but by q
very extraordinar ly skilled combination of
them. We translate below part Of an article
oil the subject, contributed by NJ. A. Thauzies
authors assumption that the animal organism
Is sensitive to magnetic conditions Is contrary
to scientific observation and experiment. but
this is only q detail of his theory and does not
materially affect it. NJ. Thauzies, after giving
reasons for rejecting the theory OF a special
Subject. proceeds to state the following facts,
which he believes to be firmly established:
far aw MSlisrs's seSe PaffiSU undr Sxfh miles II .Sh from V ths
pigeon cote-get their bearings in a normal at
m ,%9nIhs ,S Ei5h w otbs4 d,F psSs%ipsne %'tb w1thG 25s:
ing to q great height. Before one can count
fifty they have disappeared.
their baskets several minutes before releasing
them. while they are given food and drink. look
dTOunu lUeID, Wink 70 hDu ITO, CNlucHtly bIuuy-
ing the sky, until, having found out, doubtless,
What they sought, they remain quiet. Then. Il
m the ba s : aTs HDe1 Mitb dnsy z fiy S1 low "nS and fp al a
straight line in the proper direction.
-. The same pigeons, transported to q
must make a southerly journey when they are
accustomed to make q northorly one, betray a
nj the moment of departure; they seem to be
surprised, and somewhat taken aback. As
soon as they are free they fy of eastward, max
Ing largo eiliDseS to ward the RuDs then they eN-
plore in all directions. but they always return
to to the er east tE with ,S q psf Z. tho t ems a 1T III that nsn SSems
and that there alone will be found its solution.
After several minutes so Of this; having reached
"a. The earlier in the morning they are re-
ting their direction. After noon. even in calm
weather. and even II the distance is small,
their orientation is dull. slow. wagering. and
IS. When tho day comedies with a change of
the moon, the orlentatiop. both at tho point Of
departure and also on the route, becomes diff
fcult; the birds return slowly and at long In
teryais;
where very clear, IL the atmosphere is undergo
ing any OF those invisible disturbances that are
revealed only by the most delicate instruments
OF our observatories. the pigeons, as in the pre-
ceding case, hesitate. lag behind, and some
sary for their journey under other ciIcun-
STANCES.
THE carrier pigeon is Il bird eminently cleo
trio. and of excessive nervous. susceptibility.
Is also endowed with prodigiously sensitive Wis
be doubted. The indefatigable excursions that
It makes, especially in the morning. often to
considerable distances around Its cote and to
Nil points of the compass. accustom y to a great
number of magnetic and visual s%enations whose
according, to the region where it Is and % the
hour OF the day. BY what may be called its
sense of touch ! t Snd BY mc siS hIsn it Tis MnrsssioS as
as varied as they are %con!pisx, which, result
ing in the concerted action OF the organism,
moment. the direction in which the dove cote
This power OF discernment increases with
the accumulation Of .hcredity Of what may he
called local instinct This Is why tho carrier
pigeon is not satisfactory unless it has behind 1t
an ancestral line Of carrier pigeons living In the
same region. This Is why. when for any cause
the afr is disturbed, even to a degree imper-
yestigation, it's means Of getting it's bearings
being different and insufficient, 1t looks about,
1T gets It's direction best in the morning, be-
cause II prefers to fly in the morning, and be-
cause the atmospheric notions that 1t gets
from this habit are clearer, more distinct. and
effort in a familiar direction, because It then ex-
reriences. even before leaving tho basket, tho
normal sensations That hSN1 PTeviomsly guided =
directs Itself slowly toward an unknown point
because OF the INDIGESTION resulting from tho
solicitations OF an already dcEpotic routine,
and the new but not less imperious impress
sions that cause it to deviate from the aecus.
toned route.
During the period OF training al its mag.
netic and visual faculties and its knowledge OF
meteorological conditions develop little by
little. and become more delicate, hut may after
ward fall into a progressive state OF pow,erloss,
dul!s their subtle vivacity. And as It Is dif!.
cult to find united in an individual. even when
II has superior natural the rare
and complex qualities that this wonderful
effort at orientatiOn neccssitates, we can thus
see without trouble why. by one chance or an
Other Of Incomplete h%crodity, the offspring Of