A ca. 1889 proposed architectural plan for a military aviary to house swallows as messenger birds, based upon a scheme by Jean Desbouvrie, a French amateur bird trainer who successfully demonstrated that swallows could exhibit homing behavior and that when they did so they flew much faster than carrier pigeons. Furthermore, swallows fly higher and faster than pigeons, are more difficult for marksmen to shoot or for birds of prey to intercept, and are able to feed during flight. However, after obtaining authorization from the French government for further testing, Desbouvrie did not follow through with rigorous experimentation, and his plans never came to fruition.Image: F. Meriy; Restoration: Lise Broer