Antique pigeon litho engraving The Carrier Postcard

Scanned directly from thé 19th century reference book on pigeons 'Illustrirtes Mustertauben-Buch. Enthaltend das Gesammte der Taubenzucht. ' (Hamburg-1880). This book holds 81 maginificent coloured plates on rare and not so rare pigeons. We have them all, so if you're looking for one plate in particular, please ask!. A carrier pigeon or messenger pigeon is a homing pigeon (specifically a domesticated rock pigeon, Columba livia) that is used to carry messages. Using pigeons to carry messages is generally called "pigeon post". Most homing or racing type varieties are used to carry messages. There is no specific breed actually called "carrier pigeon". Carrier pigeons that are the basic Racing Homer were used to carry messages in World War I and World War II. Thirty-two pigeons were presented with the Dickin Medal.