PIGEON POST. The use of homing pigeons to carry mes sages is as old as Solomon, and the ancient Greeks, to whom the art of training the birds came probably from the Persians, con veyed the names of Olympic victors to their various cities by this means. Before the electric telegraph this method of communica tion had a considerable vogue amongst stockbrokers and finan ciers. The Dutch Government established a civil and military pigeon system in Java and Sumatra early in the 19th century, the birds being obtained from Baghdad. Pigeons were employed dur ing the siege of Paris in 187o-7I. This led to a revival in the training of pigeons for military and naval purposes. They have also been used by newspapers for reporting. It has been found very important to establish registration of all birds. In order to hinder the efficiency of the systems of foreign countries, diffi culties were placed in the way of the importation of their birds for training, and in a few cases falcons were specially trained to interrupt the service in war-time, the Germans having set the example by employing hawks against the Paris pigeons in 187o 71. No satisfactory method of protecting the weaker birds seems
to have been evolved, though the Chinese formerly provided their pigeons with whistles and bells to scare away birds of prey.
During the World War pigeons were frequently used to bring back messages from advanced positions and often rendered very valuable service, but the development of wireless telegraphy will restrict their uses.
See L. du Puy de Podio, Die Brieftaube in der Kriegskunst (Leipzig, z872) ; Brinckmeier, Anzucht, Pflege, and Dressur der Brief tauben (Ilmenau, 1891).