158 PIGEONS ANT) A LI, AUGHT THEM. 



bird. Legs very short with hardly a perceptible thigh. 

 Clean below the hock, bright red and pale toe nails. 



The body color of the Turbit is always white, the wing col- 

 or stamping the color of its class; but the ten primary flights 

 arc white. It comes in Reds, Blacks, Blues and Yellows for 

 standard colors, but there are other colors which come under 

 the A. O. C. class. In Blues and Silvers, the wing bars are 

 black. In carriage, the bird is erect and sprightly, and full 

 of grace. The great point in the Turbit is its head, and it is 

 here that the close competition between noted breeders comes 

 in. Such a figure does it cut that the average judge looks 

 over the good headed birds in a class, before he pays any at- 

 tention to other points. 



A great Turbit fancier being once asked for the model 

 Turbit said concisely, " Bullfinch beak, high peak, full frill 

 and mane, short neck, short legs and broad chest. " 



Such a bird looks well from either side or front, and the 

 judge does not take him up with pleasure, only to put him 

 back when he gets a full face view. 



The rule is so plain that I do not see how there can be 

 such diversity of opinion regarding what are called ''types" 

 of the Turbit. There is only one proper type, and that is 

 laid down plainly in the Standard, and as Turbits are judged 

 by comparison, the one nearest approaching it is the best 

 bird. It is a certainty that the Turbit, the real Turbit, has 

 a face different from any other bird, but approaching nearly 

 to several others, and that is what has caused so much dis- 

 cussion in the past. 



The formation of the Turbit head or rather face is not 

 like the curve of the Owl. It is not like the show Antwerp, 

 nor yet like the Tumbler, but it seems to be a blending, a 

 combination of all three, and it is all its own. 



