| → as it seems to me, 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
| OMIT 1869 1872 |
|
| → in 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
| with the wild rock-pigeon in 1869 1872 |
|
| → with the wild rock-pigeon, 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
| OMIT 1869 1872 |
|
| → of their structure; 1860 1861 1866 |
| of their structure: 1859 |
| OMIT 1869 1872 |
|
|
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
improbable; or they must have become extinct in the wild state. But birds breeding on precipices, and good fliers, 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
a very rash assumption. Moreover, the several above-named domesticated breeds have been 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
become wild or feral, though the dovecot-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
difficult to get
wild
to breed freely under domestication;
on the hypothesis of the multiple origin of our pigeons, it must be assumed that at least seven or eight species were so thoroughly domesticated in ancient times by
man, as to be quite prolific under confinement. |
|
| An
→as it seems to me,
of great weight, and applicable in several other cases, is, that the above-specified breeds, though agreeing generally
→in
constitution, habits, voice, colouring, and in most parts of their structure,
→with the wild rock-pigeon,
yet are certainly highly abnormal in other
→of their structure;
we may look in vain
the whole great family of Columbidæ for a beak like that of the English carrier, or that of the short-faced tumbler, or barb; for reversed feathers like those of the
for a crop like that
|
