In China before World War II, it was quite common to hear flocks of pigeons creating music as they dove through the air. As pigeon whistles attached to the birds' tails. The pigeon whistles were made of light weight bamboo and did not affect the birds' ability to fly. As the bird flew, air passed through the whistle and created a sound. Sometimes whistles were attached to hundreds of birds at a time so that each bird became a musical instrument and the flock an arial orchestra.
Each pigeon whistle was hand crafted and tuned to produce a different sound, so that the music created by each pigeon built on the sounds created by the other piegones, until the sky was filled with an harmonious symphony in the sky.
The art of making and using pigeon whistles is not as popular as it was in pre-revolutionary China, but it is still practiced in many parts of China and has gained a measure of popularity among pigeon fanciers in the West.
Here is an interesting article n the subject of pigeon whistles from the 1915 edition of the World's Advance:
Probably the most unique musical instruments employed in any country are the odd Chinese pigeon whistles. The accompanying view shows a pigeon with one of these whistles on its tail. The whistles are very light, weighing but a few grams, and are attached to the tails of young pigeons soon after their birth, by means of fine copper wire. When the pigeons fly, the wind blowing through the whistles sets them vibrating and thus produces a melodious open-air concert, for the instruments in a flock are all tuned differently. On a serene day in Peking, where these instruments are manufactured with great cleverness and ingenuity, it is even possible to en- joy this aerial music while sitting in one's room.
Picture of A Pigeon Wearing a Chinese Pigeon Whistle
In spite of the seemingly large variety of pigeon whistles, there are but two dis- tinct types: those consisting of oblong bamboo tubes placed side by side, and a type based on the principle of tubes at- tached to a gourd body or windchest.
They are lacquered in yellow, brown, red, and black, to protect the material from the destructive influences of the at- mosphere. The tube whistles have either two or three, or else five tubes. In some specimens the five tubes are made of ox-horn instead of bamboo. The on the principal mouthpiece, some arranged around it. These varieties are distinguished by different names. Thus, a whistle with one mouthpiece and ten tubes is called "the eleven-eyed one." Some have the shape of a pig's head. As to the materials and implements
