The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-07-18

From his naval experience L..
Tenant sncAtee says that out q ~
birds that proved good homess /.
the first year q Per cent vil Is
liver messages satisfactorily. r..
birds that do not have the heni.s
instfnct sufficiently strong er.esss
have little endurance are lost =
The long flights and the nav -.
not Try to recover them. Il vssss
only the sure, swift birds to err
it, important messages. A bird ~
comes IN regularly with mud a h.
feet has the habit OF stoppinr =
drink and It is likely to BE- sfr,ct
from the navy roll for lack Of stsm-
ina Of . deficient sense Of ressoesi-
btlity.
OF Many Colerx
z When you first 90 into one Of thu
navy lofts you are struck with the
great variety Of size. colorink. ana
marking in the pigeons. Blue "a
the ground color Of all pigeons. and
the rainbow colored birds in
prize loft are all descendants Of thu
ledge roosting blue rock dove. But
BY use OF sports and BY skillful in
breeding and crossbrseding man
has developed no less than zoo SEN
arate types as distinct as 400
flowers. There are large and small
varieties. Some are mahogany red.
others buff yellow, others silver.
and a great many are gray, black
and white. Some are almost one
solid color and others are beauti.
fully marked in bands ana
splotches. Almost all. including
the pure white birds, have irredes-
cent colorings in the neck feathers.
After you note the variety you be-
gin to see how many Of q single
breed are in q loft, and you wonder
how the breeders can tell the birds
apart. Yet they know every one Of
the good homers and other fine
birds. Out of a cage Of 100 birds
the navy pigeon trainer can point
out number $40 that flew 500
miles from Napponee. Ind, to
Washington in IL hours, q min
utes, with q cross wind. He points
out Truthful, a blue bird with white
flights across her wings. This
pigeon is always reliable She
has flown 500 miles three times this
year and came out first in one racs
and second in another.
There is no guesswork about It
The pigeon lover knows his birds.
Out at the Baird farm Jacobson
gave an exhibition Of his familiarity
with his birds. He went into loft
Of about 100 homers.
81 know practically every one OF
the 500 homers on the farm. he
said. THAT one is 232." And hs
pointed to a bird. Then with :
skillful swoop he caught the pigeon
land showed the number on the leg
band. Number after number he
called without a mistake, and he
told the birds record in different
races. To remember SO many
numbers alone would have been q
feat.
pigeons look different, just like
people," he explained. bills are
different, eyes. shape OF head, col
oring, marking, and the walk.
But the average person could al
easily know one sparrow from an
other as to distinguish some OF the
pigeons of the same parentage.
The pigeons know Jacobson, too
He led the way into loft after loft
pointing out the ingenious equip
ment and especially fine birds, ant
In every cage the birds showed NJ
sign Of fear.
They have confidence In me-
he said. "Ani even if bring in
stranger it is all right"
The 400 varieties of domestic pig
con do not represent the possible
range Of Egeon types, we are told
Pigeons are said to be better sub
jects for scientific breeding thai
any other creature. This is partl.
because so many centuries of cross
breeding are back of the pigeon ant
it responds quickly to experiments
and because the cycle of genera
tons is so short
| The Baird farm is primarily
! SQUAD farm, but it is to be a labora
tory as well. McAtee and Jacobson
expect to produce blue king pig
con and a blue Baird, no pun IN
tended. These will be entirely new
types. Then, too, breeders always
work for better specimens of TN
usual varieties.
| Aside from its place in the sport
ling world, the homing pigeon Is
bird Of war. and it is bred for en-
durance, strength and reliabliity
In squad raising, rapid producfIol
and size are the aims Of the breed
er. Other pigeon breeders are ian
ciers, raising AID studying birds al
a lover of roses might experiment
wit hhis bushes. With them I'M
\ a.