f God, the gracious and merciful." Many
large towns, in Europe and the United States, now have their societies of
devoted pigeon-fanciers: at present there are three such societies in
London. In India, as I hear from {206} Mr. Blyth, the inhabitants of Delhi
and of some other great cities are eager fanciers. Mr. Layard informs me
that most of the known breeds are kept in Ceylon. In China, according to
Mr. Swinhoe of Amoy, and Dr. Lockhart of Shangai, carriers, fantails,
tumblers, and other varieties are reared with care, especially by the
bonzes or priests. The Chinese fasten a kind of whistle to the
tail-feathers of their pigeons, and as the flock wheels through the air
they produce a sweet sound. In Egypt the late Abbas Pacha was a great
fancier of fantails. Many pigeons are kept at Cairo and Constantinople, and
these have lately been imported by native merchants, as I hear from Sir W.
Elliot, into Southern India, and sold at high prices.

The foregoing statements show in how many countries, and during how long a
period, many men have been passionately devoted to the breeding of pigeons.
Hear how an enthusiastic fancier at the present day writes: "If it were
possible for noblemen and gentlemen to know the amazing amount of solace
and pleasure derived from Almond Tumblers, when they begin to understand
their properties, I should think that scarce any nobleman or gentleman
would be without their aviaries of Almond Tumblers."[350] The pleasure thus
taken is of paramount importance, as it leads amateurs carefully to note
and preserve each slight deviation of structure which strikes their fancy.
Pigeons are often closely confined during their whole lives; they do not
partake of their naturally varied diet; they have often been transported
from one climate to another; and all these changes in their conditions of
life would be likely to cause variability. Pigeons have been domesticated
for nearly 5000 years, and have been kept in many places, so that the
numbers reared under domestication must have been enormous; and this is
another circumstance of high importance, for it obviously favours the
chance of rare modifications of structure occasionally appearing. Slight
variations of all kinds would almost certainly be observed, and, if valued,
would, owing to the following circumstances, be preserved and propagated
with unusual facility. Pigeons, differently from any other domesticated
animal, can easily be mated for life, and, th