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 tail, consisting of three quill feathers, growing out between the shoulders. Unfortunately, the bird had been shot, otherwise there would have been but little difficulty in establishing a race of two-tailed Pigeons from this singular variation. It is needless to go through all the varieties in succession, for the same principle applies to the production of each. The recurved feathers of the Jacobin and other breeds, the long beak of the Carrier, the lengih of plumage and limb in the Pouter, &c., &c., all owe their origin to natural variations which have been perpetuated and intensified by the careful selection exercised by the breeders through many successive generations.

We know that this view is widely opposed to the general ideas of persons who have not very carefully studied the subject, and would therefore call attention to the following passage from "The Origin of Species," by Mr. Charles Darwin, in which the facts bearing on this question are very fully stated:—

"Great as the differences are between the breeds of pigeons, I am fully convinced that the common opinion of naturalists is correct, namely, that all have descended from the Rock Pigeon (Columba livia), including, under this term, several geographical races or sub-species, which differ from each other in the most trifling respects. As several of the reasons which have led me to this belief are in some degree applicable in other cases, I will here briefly give them.

"If the several breeds are not varieties, and have not proceeded from the Rock Pigeon, they must have descended from at least seven or eight aboriginal stocks; for it is impossible to make the present domestic breeds by the crossing of any lesser number: how, for instance, could a Pouter be produced by crossing two breeds, unless one of the parent-stocks possessed the characteristic enormous crop? The supposed aboriginal stocks must all have been Rock Pigeons, that is, not breeding or willingly perching on trees. But besides C. livia, with its geographical sub-species, only two or three other species of Rock Pigeons are known; and these have not any of the characters of the domestic breeds. Hence the supposed aboriginal stocks must either still exist in the countries where they were originally domesticated, and yet be unknown to ornithologists—and this, considering their size, habits, and remarkable characters, seems very improbable—or they must have become extinct in the wild state. But birds building on precipices, and good flyers, are unlikely to be exterminated; and the common Rock Pigeon, which has the same habits with the domestic breeds, has not been exterminated even on several of the smaller British islets, or on the shores of the Mediterranean. Hence the supposed extermination of so many species having similar habits with the Rock Pigeon seems to me a very rash assumption. Moreover, the several above-named domesticated breeds have heen transported to all parts of the world, and, therefore, some of them must have been carried back again into their native country; but not one has ever become wild or feral, though the Dovecote Pigeon which is the Rock Pigeon in, a very slightly altered state, has become feral in several places. Again, all recent experience shows that it is most dificult to get any wild animal to breed freely under domestication; yet,