 The records show that from 7 January to the end, 61 tubes were sent off, containing 246 official and 671 private despatches.The practice was to send off the despatches not only by pigeons of the same release but also of successive releases until Paris signaled the arrival of those despatches.When the pigeon reached its particular loft in Paris, its arrival was announced by a bell in the trap in the loft.