shortness of that of the tumbler, and the number of tail-feathers in
the fantail, are in each breed eminently variable; and the explanation
of this fact will be obvious when we come to treat of selection.
Fourthly, pigeons have been watched, and tended with the utmost care,
and loved by many people. They have been domesticated for thousands of
years in several quarters of the world; the earliest known record of
pigeons is in the fifth Aegyptian dynasty, about 3000 B.C., as was
pointed out to me by Professor Lepsius; but Mr. Birch informs me that
pigeons are given in a bill of fare in the previous dynasty. In the
time of the Romans, as we hear from Pliny, immense prices were given
for pigeons; "nay, they are come to this pass, that they can reckon up
their pedigree and race." Pigeons were much valued by Akber Khan in
India, about the year 1600; never less than 20,000 pigeons were taken
with the court. "The monarchs of Iran and Turan sent him some very
rare birds;" and, continues the courtly historian, "His Majesty by
crossing the breeds, which method was never practised before, has
improved them astonishingly." About this same period the Dutch were as
eager about pigeons as were the old Romans. The paramount importance
of these considerations in explaining the immense amount of variation
which pigeons have undergone, will be obvious when we treat of
Selection. We shall then, also, see how it is that the breeds so often
have a somewhat monstrous character. It is also a most favourable
circumstance for the production of distinct breeds, that male and
female pigeons can be easily mated for life; and thus different breeds
can be kept together in the same aviary.

I have discussed the probable origin of domestic pigeons at some, yet
quite insufficient, length; because when I first kept pigeons and
watched the several kinds, knowing well how true they bred, I felt
fully as much difficulty in believing that they could ever have