The name "pigeon" is from the Latin _pipio_ (to peep or chirp), and came into the English language from the French. The Anglo-Saxon name for the bird was probably _dufa_, from which we have the word "dove," which is still sometimes applied to pigeons. _Dufa_ was derived from _dufan_ (to plunge into). It seems probable that the name was given because of the pigeon's habit of dropping almost perpendicularly when descending from an elevated position. The male pigeon is called a cock, the female a hen. Young pigeons are called _squabs_, _squeakers_, or sometimes _squealers_. The word "squab," which means "fat," describes the characteristic appearance of the nestling pigeon; the other terms refer to the noise it makes as it persistently begs for food. [Illustration: Fig. 183. Tame pigeons. (Photograph from Elmer E. Rice, Boston, Massachusetts)] =Origin.= Domestic pigeons are all descended from the wild Blue Rock Pigeon of the Old World. Although many of the improved varieties have been greatly changed in form, they are all perfectly fertile when bred together. The Blue Rock Pigeon is found in the wild state in Europe, Asia, and Africa. "Fancy Pigeons," by James C. Lyell, the best authority on the subject, contains this statement: "The British Blue Rock inhabits the rocks and caves on our seacoasts, as well as precipitous inland rocks, and certainly the difference between this bird and a common blue flying tumbler is very little. Their color is identical, their size almost so.... In the west of Scotland, where fanciers keep and show common pigeons, the wild Blue Rock domesticated is the bird so called." It is by no means certain that these wild pigeons are a true wild race. Considering the habits of the pigeon and its wide distribution in England centuries ago, it seems certain that many, if not all, of the pigeons now found wild in the British Isles are descended from birds once domesticated. Rock Pigeons of the same type, however, are found in many other parts of the Old World and, whether wild or feral, are plainly all from the same original stock. The American Wild Pigeon, also called the Passenger Pigeon, which was once found in enormous flocks in eastern North America, is often erroneously mentioned as the ancestor of domestic pigeons. The Rock Pigeon and the Passenger Pigeon are of different species and are very different in appearance and habits. The Rock Pigeon is what is called a shelf builder. It builds its nest on a ledge, or shelf, and will rarely even alight in a tree or a bush. The Passenger Pigeon is a wood pigeon, nesting and roosting in trees. [Illustration: Fig. 184. Flock of Dragoon Pigeons[15]] [Illustration: Fig. 185. Flying Homer Pigeon[15]] [Illustration: Fig. 186. Silver Runt Pigeon[15]] [15] Photograph from Elmer E. Rice, Boston, Massachusetts.