Homing pigeons or as they are commonly called, carriers, are not bred for special markings like fancy pigeons but because of their power and speed in flight.  A carrier has the “homing” instinct more fully developed than any other animal.  In some homing pigeon races, the birds have made speed records of over a mile a minute for many hours and have flown over a thousand miles.  If a well-bred homing pigeon fails to return to his home loft it is almost a certainty that he is either forcibly detained or that he has been killed by hunters or hawks.  Never try to capture a pigeon that may stop for a rest at your loft.  He may be in a race and his owner may be waiting for his return five hundred miles away when every minute counts in winning a prize.

Another large class of birds that make fine pets although they are not strictly in the class of birds bred by the fancier are the ornamental land and water fowl.  The chief objection to these birds as pets is the expense of buying them.  The list of birds in this class is very large.  In swans the leading varieties are mute, American whistling, black Australian, white Berwick and black-necked swans.  The largest class are the pheasants.  They are exceedingly beautiful, especially the golden, silver, Lady Amherst, Elliott, Reeves, green Japanese, Swinhoe, English ring neck, Melanotis, and Torquatis pheasants.  The common wild geese are Egyptian, Canadian, white-fronted, Sebastopol, snow, brant, bar-headed, spin-winged and many others.  In ducks, there are mallards, black, wood, mandarin, blue and green winged teal, widgeon, redhead, pin-tail, bluebill, gadwell, call and many others.  Beside pheasants, ducks and geese there are also the various storks, cranes, pea-fowl and herons in the “ornamental fowl” list.

These are all wild fowl.  The commoner varieties will cost from six to fifteen dollars a pair and the rare ones several hundred.  To keep the semi-wild birds from flying away they are usually pinioned, a process of taking off the end joint of one wing.  The colours of some of the ornamental fowl are more beautiful than any birds in nature.  Pheasants especially are easily cared for and make interesting pets.  They can be tamed and if kept outdoors they will seldom be subject to disease.  Most of these birds are as easily cared for as chickens.

[Illustration:  A home-made rabbit house]

Rabbits make fine pets for boys and girls.  They are clean in their habits, hardy and gentle.  The common kinds are white rabbits with pink eyes or albinos, and brown rabbits or Belgian hares.  With rabbits also there is a “fancy.”  The Fur Fanciers’ Association recognizes the following distinct breeds:  Belgians, Flemish giants, Dutch marked, English, Himalayan, silvers, tans, Polish, lops, and Angoras.