Abstract
Now here's a question not many people can answer: What does the Queen of England have in common with Sylvester Kautzer of New Holstein, Wisconsin? The answer is simple. Both Elizabeth and Sylvester raise Jacobins.
So fine. What are Jacobins? Well, every well versed aviculturist should know the answer to that one. Jacobins are an extremely ornamental breed of show pigeons. So ornamental that their head looks like a big feather duster. And so attractive that thousands of people in Europe, Asia and America raise them as a hobby'
"You 're putting me on, fella! Who ever heard of civilized people actually raising pigeons? I mean, on purpose?"
Well, that's the real question, "Who ever heard?" Unfortunately, for both us and the general public, no very many people have heard. Too bad. too, because our hobby is probably one of the oldest in history. Nobody knows when it started, but there are archaeological carvings and other evidences that men and pigeons became friends as far back as 5 ,000 B.C. Noah had them on the Ark - in pairs. of course - and sent one out to search for the nearest land after the flood. Greek and Roman literature have many references to people keeping pigeons. The Christian tradition made a pigeon the sign of the Holy Spirit, the essence of love, peace and wisdom.
Through the Middle Ages the monasteries in Central Europe developed their own "breeds", obviously by selective breeding, which might have been the first experiments with birds, purely for ornamental reasons. As a means of communications, armies from Hannibal to Napolean to Eisenhower used homing pigeons to carry vital messages, and these agile fliers have saved countless thousands of lives over the centuries.
When we speak of pigeons. we are referring to just one species [Columba Livia). There are dozens of other species of pigeons in the wild - and probably just as many more species of doves - throughout the world. But the scientists tell us all our domestic pigeons have one common ancestor, the blue Rock Dove, which inhabits the coasts of the North Sea, the Mediterranean and the Mideast. These wild birds look much like some of the feral pigeons you see today, which nest in barns and church steeples. Their color is dark gray to blue with two black bars on their wings. The common pigeons you see that look like this are a simple...