Secrets Of Nature - Special Messengers (1930)

Produced by British Instructional Films Ltd.
Messenger pigeons. Man goes into an outhouse. Top shot of the back yard of a house with pigeon cages. A small boy watches while his grandfather (?) feeds pigeons. C/U of the pigeons and their nesting boxes. Two eggs on some straw. Shots of the bird embryos. Baby bird breaking out of the shell. We see the bird sticking out its tongue. The head emerges and its foot follows. Babies at three days old in the nest. Young birds walking around and going into the nesting boxes. Pigeon's feeding the "squeakers" - baby bird. Metal ring is placed on the leg of the pigeon. Wing of a bird is spread out to show the camera, as are the tail feathers. Training basket with birds in. Water is poured into a trough at the side of the training basket. Man wheels along his bike and places the training basket on top. In another location he lets the birds free and they fly home. A racing clock is illustrated. Paper disks are inserted into the clock. Clock is set and closed. Members of the racing club take their birds to be marked. Slips of paper with a secret number correspond to numbers inside the ring. Double numbering prevents tampering with the ring. Rubber ring is placed on pigeon's foot by means of a bizarre contraption that stretches the ring. Birds are placed in baskets and sent to the start of the race. A special pigeon train is put on by the railway as the race is so popular. Pigeons are fed and watered inside their basket. At a given signal the cages are opened and all the birds fly out. Slow motion view of the pigeons leaving the cages. An owner waits for the return of his birds. Film incomplete.
Note: unfortunately this print is very scratched and the sound is jumpy. It's a lovely film though!
FILM ID:2863.06
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