GREEN JACKET.

Otago Witness, Issue 2812, 5 February 1908, Page 88

GREEN JACKET.

A TALE OF A HOMING PIGEON.

(By Wiix L.vwsox.)

(All Eights Reserved.)

When Green Jacket and her brother, Sky Pilot, were hatched by a fester mother into a world of wind and wide wastes, their true mother was wingi ig her swift way from Russell to Wellington. She was a champion flyer, much faster than her mate, who was lazy and always arrived home about a day after the othit birds from the same loft, and always .n good condition, his well-filled crop suggesting a descent en route into a ripening wheat patch. But though always late, he never went astray, and that is the principal thing about a homer. To justify his existence he must come home. Soon after they were hatched Green Jacket and Sky Pilot had small aluminium rings placed on fcheir "ight legs. On these rings were the clubs initials, the official number of the bird, and the date, n black lettering on white enamel. When, first put on the rings hung slack, yet in course of time, as the birds grew, the rings fitted well and truly, proclaiming the youngsters to be eligible for sucn races as th© owner chese to enter them for. And at last there came a. day when they were allowed to dash out of the loft with the Test of the flock, to circle and sweep about Jie house tops until their owner called! them down again by means of a shrill whistle — a sound they all knew well and always obeyed instantly, for it meant that full seed hop-< pers awaited them.

After this flight Green Jacket was caught and handled and talked over, and it was prophesied that she would perhaps eclipse her mother in the matter of speed. Early in the year the "tossing"' of youg birds began — at first over a distance of about seven miles, then 20 or 30 miles, then 50, then 80 and 100. From each of these Green Jacket came home a-s fast as her wings would bring her, Sky Pilot usually arriving some time later. A young pigeon homes at a much greater speed than an old one, being inexperienced and consequently eager to reach home. Green Jacket loved her home. When she heard the basket creak in the dark when her owner came softly to cat oh her and her fellow novices, she flew into a- panic and her heart htftr violently while ' she was being carTieofc^way to the club room to be placed in the hamper for despatch by the train in the morning. -And when at the tossing place the baskets were opened, Green Jacket (soared high in narrowing circles till familiar land marks told her where lay her home, and then her eager wings bore her swiftly thither. Whatever instinct or intelligence urges a. homing pigeon homeward, there can he no doubt that observation plays a prominent part in the mental process which ■directs th-e bird. This is horh& out by the fact that birds trained to fly from north to south will not fly from south to north. Birds which have successfully flown from New Plymouth to Wellington fail in the short flight from Picton to Wellingotn, frequently bringing up at Christchurch. The crossuig of the Straits is, of course, a serious obstacle, as the birds prefer flying over land. If, however, as in the caae of the Christchurch homers, which fly from Gisborno to Christchurch, training begins overland and is gradually extended across the water, no trouble is experienced, as the birds can ccc familiar landmarks across the water. In the case of the Wellington birds flying from Picton, no opportunity offers to train overland towards Picton first, and the birds would not recognise a familiar hill seen from the south, though they know it well when seen from the north. All «his Beems to indicate that training is Jhe principal factor iD the attainment of long-distance homing, and in this connection it may l>e mentioned that a homing pigeon has 25 per cent, more brain than the average fancy or common pigeon. When all the tosses for the young birds had taken place, arrangements for the first race were made, and Green Jacket was entered. Th« distance" was 150 miles. Together with some others from her loft, she was taken in a basket to the club-room to be officially .lumbered, and placed in the hampers. The foot of each bird was inserted into a ringing machine, which placed an *ndiarubber ring on the leg. On the outside of this ring, which was folded double, was a number, and within the folds was another and a different number. With each rubber band was a folded slip of paper, which the secretary retained, and on it was a number corresponding to that on the rubber band, while within its folds was a number tallying with the number inside the rubber band. This duplication was devised to prevent roguery and trickery in the " ringing in " oT birds which had not raced. Each) member was then handed his clock — just a small timepiece in a wooden case with a back which opened. At one side was a small drawer, the opening of which stopped the clock/, while its shutting immediately started the mechanism. Tho secretary opened all the drawers, wound up the. clocks, set them all ai> 12 o'clock, and sealed the backs. This was done becatise w hen once the drawer is shut ifc cannot be opened again without opening the back. When the bird came in it had to be caught, the rubber band taken from its leg and placed in the drawer which was shut, immediately starting the clock. The clocks had all to be at' the secretary's office within an hour of the arrival of each bird, and by a process of subtraction the hour of the bird's arrival wae gauged. For example, a bird arrives at 1 o'clock, the clock is carried to the secretary, who sees that the time- by it is, say, 12.30. Another clock show 6 12.45 ; another 1 o'clock. The clock which shows the greatest move*

ment beyond 12 repreesnte the ■winning bird. This method of timing is old and cumbersome, and in New Zealand will soon be replaced by the English and Continental eystem, whereby each owner is given a card bearing a number which the secretary has noted against the owner's name. As soon as the bird is caught the rubber ring is taken off the leg, the number inside the ring noted on the card, and then the owner must make quick time to the official clock, which is in the club room. Arrived there, the Tubber ring is inserted in an opening in the clock, releasing a spring, when the clock stamps the time on the competitor's card. The cards are handed in to the secretary, -who compiles his result therefrom. A certain amount of time is, of course, allowed for each member to reach the club-room from his loft.

Green Jacket, like the other starters in the race, had been trained for the journey, just as a racehorse is trained. Rice and peas in carefully measured quantities were apportioned to her. She was in the pink of condition, and she certainly looked it. It is difficult, however, to judge a bird's condition by appearances, and only by handling can its fitness be ascertained. There is a hardness to be felt about the whole body of a welltrained bird. Great differences of opinion exist regarding the question of feed immediately prior to a race, the majority agreeing that no food should be given during the 24 hours preceding the race, and just a drink of water befoie the birds arc released. In Germany there are some lofts belonging to a successful fancier which have earned the name of ihe Lofts of Misery, owing to the paucity of the food supplies. Yet this owner's total winnings for one year amounted to £3900. Green Jacket's owner belonged to the small section who believed that a little rice given just before catching would be conducive to greater staying powters, co Green Jacket had not* such a hungry railway journey as some others of the hundred birds in the crate.

When the moment for release cam?. Green Jacket, having been given a drink of water, became intensely excited, and on the opening of the hamper she whined upward with amazing swiftness, followed by the other birds. Then m close ordei they headed south, making for home. Steadily Green Jacket won away from them and was seen tiavelling alone She maintained an average speed of 1800 yards a minute, and she lofted so for inadvance of the others that had she been flying in England her owner would have had to face an inquiry, for it is the rule in England and on the Continent, where the stakes in connection with pigeonflying amount to thousands of pounds, to hold a meeting of the stewaids when any bird outstrips others in a marked, degree. Such an inquiry is not intended to reflect on the straight running of the biid. but on the honesty of the owner and his methods of trapping. There is olways the chance of a bird being "rung in" as a winner which never started in the race. It is quite reasonable that occasionally a bold bird, instead of following circuitously the land marks it knows, will take a bearing and make a more direct dash for home by a route nearer the air-line than that usually followed by homers.

By degrees Green Jacket's powers were tested in longer races. She flew from New Plymouth, Auckland. Russell — distances her mother still flew over, and in all these runs there was one landmark which stood out prominently as a gmde to the aerial voyagers — Mount Egmont. The direct air lines from Russell and Auckland to Wellington cross the North Taranaki Bight and pass inland of Egmont, again crossing water in the Southern Bight. But the homers hug the shore and then diverge towards Egmont, whkh is to them an old friend. So that instead of flying over a distance of between 400 and 500 miles, they actually tiavei-e about 600 miles, and it seems unfair to them that their times are calculated on a shorter distance. In reility they ily much faster than the club records show. Gieen Jacket now raced alongside her mother. In colour the two weic something alike, a bluish black, but th*» younger bird had a wonderful green and copper sheen on her feathers, which shone in the sunlight and gave riic to her being called Green Jacket. Sky Pilot still hung on in all the races — slow, but sure, like his father, who had been shot in oi.e of his descents during a race for rest and refreshment. In the middle of summer the longest race of all was to be flown — from Cape Parenga north of Auckland to Wellington, a distance of 500 miles nn the air-line. Theie were maay entrants, axui gxreeix Jacket, -was never more fit to fly.

A settler's wife at Parenga had the care of the '-'"ids, and on a fine clear morninc » c r , i\ a them their final diink of w«ui- and o^Pncd the hampeis. Some <> f th-e oi' 1 bird-s hardly soared at all. I hey hail '..eeii 1l n j e before and knew the lay. of the Lu,.i Green. Jacket and Sky Pilot j<u"xl t igether and side by Mile t lit v beat tm-ir way southward. J*he\ h..d :t lonn ih before them of may*>p 12 'thus., and only the loiterers ever •ilijjit io rest. Sky Pilot was something of a loafer, yet he had never yet alighted. And Green Jacket's heart urged her homeward, to where the swinging boltwires awaited her hurried entrance to the loft.

High above earth they flew until the white cap of Egmont showed mil age-like above the haze, and they swerved towards it distinctively. Beneath them, spread out in panorama, lay Che country be- , tween Gisborne and New Plymouth, the J lf.nges but ripples of earth as seen from | above, just as it will appear to man when he successfully emulates these little aeronauts and takes his drumming aeroplanes where the pigeons' wings have , beaten the sweet, pure air into regular routes by which they always go. On the map which the club secretary keeps there are many red lines starting from niany .points, and all meeting and merging at !

the big city. These are the direct airlines, and all the distances are measured to a point 20 miles outeide the city. From there the distance to each loft is measured, and time allowances made according to the positions of the various lofts. But the keen intelligence of the pigeons cause them to follow different ways from these ; air currents, winds, the necessity for crossing water — all these count in the laying of a course ; and until a genius invents a patent log for attachment to each bird- the exact distance traversed by each will never be rightly gaugod. A wind from the south-east forced Green Jacket and Sky Pilot to fly lower, and when they were crossing a river there was a flash below them, and Sky Pilot toppled over backward, while Green Jacket's wings beat in terror and a stinging pain shot through her breast. It made her fly more slowly, and she felt so weak she dared not . attempt the long stretch southward of Cape Egmont. So she hovered about the mountain, and at night she went home with a flock of pigeons she met, the owner of which, on discovering her exhausted state, placed her in a pen until morning, when he fourd her to be riddled with shot. He removed many of these and crave her rice and peas and good water. Then, on the third day after her arrival, he wrote on a piece of paper, which he w rapped inside the rubber ring on her leg ; and taking Green Jacket out into the road he tossed her high up. She flew round once ; her heart heat with the old love for home, and she took her way southward -again, flying s-teadily, for the pain in her breast was still keen.

When she was halfway home a heavy storm beat her almost to the ground, but the sun shone ap;ain, and, faint and weary, the gallant bird flew ever south. In the afternoon slie sighted her loft and made quick time thither. Her owner, still watchful for her arrival, saw her swoop to the trap, heard the electric beli tingle as sbe stepped on the floor of the cage ; and hurrvinu into his loft he found her lying; hrddled in a corner. Beneath her rubber race-ring he found the paper from Ihs other pigeon-owner. It said, "No. 2856 XT arrived Tuesday night full of ?''ot : took out 24 pellets, and released this mominsj."

tireen Jacket vras on the sick list for a long time and was never raced again, because her ovmer nas a pigeon lover as veil ;>s a pigeon racer, and he hated to let the little bird run the rifik again. Yet whenever, on the ni^bt before sending birds" away to a rpce, s!>e hoard the creak of a basket Green Jacket dashed herrelf against the walls of the loft in terror.