A pigeon race as every fancier knows begins with a basket. But with a hundred different finish lines, each one a backyard loft. When does a pigeon race end? In 1913 Charlie Hudson entered one of his pigeons in a race from Rome to England. On the day of the big race, a storm blew in and a thousand birds were swept away and never seen again. Apart from one.

A pigeon race, as every fancier knows, begins with a basket. But with a hundred different finish lines, each one a backyard loft, when does a pigeon race end? In 1913, Charlie Hudson entered one of his pigeons in a race from Rome to England. On the day of the big race a storm blew in and a thousand birds were swept away and never seen again. Apart from one...