i64 DOVE 



several of them Avould as undoubtedly have been placed in different 

 genera. These various breeds are classified by Mr. Darwin^ in four 

 groups as follows : — 



Group I. composed of a single Race, that of the "Pouters," 

 having the gullet of great size, barely separated from the crop, and 

 often inflated, the body and legs elongated, and a moderate bill. 

 The most strongh^ marked subrace, the Improved English Pouter, is 

 considered to be the most distinct of all domesticated pigeons. 



Group II. includes three Races: — (1) " Carriers," with a long 

 pointed bill, the eyes surrounded by much bare skin, and the neck 

 and body much elongated; (2) "Runts," with a long massive bill, 

 and the body of great size ; and (3) " Barbs," with a short broad 

 bill, much bare skin round the eyes, and the skin over the nostrils 

 swollen. Of the first four and of the second five subraces are 

 distinguished. 



Group III. is confessedly artificial, and to it are assigned j^2;e 

 Races: — (1) " Fan-tails," remarkable for the extraordinary develop- 

 ment of their tails, which may consist of as many as forty-two 

 rectrices in place of the ordinary twelve ; (2) " Turbits " and 

 " Owls," with the feathers of the throat diverging, and a short thick 

 bill; (3) "Tumblers," possessing the marvellous habit of tumbling 

 backwards during flight or, in some breeds, even on the ground, and 

 having a short, conical bill ; (4) " Frill-backs," in which the 

 feathers are reversed ; and (5) " Jacobins," with the feathers of 

 the neck forming a hood, and the Mdngs and tail long. 



Group IV. greatly resembles the normal form, and comprises 

 two Races: — (1) "Trumpeters," with a tuft of feathers at the base 

 of the neck curling forward, the face much feathered, and a very 

 peculiar voice ; and (2) Pigeons scarcely differing in structure from 

 the wild stock. 



Beside these, some three or four other little-known breeds exist, 

 and the whole number of breeds and sub-breeds almost defies com- 

 putation. The difterence between them is in many cases far from 

 being superficial, for Mr. Darwin has shewn that there is scarcely 

 any part of the skeleton which is constant, and the modifications 

 that have been effected in the proportions of the head and sternal 

 apparatus are very remarkable. Yet the proof that all these 

 different birds have descended from one common stock is nearly 

 certain. Here there is no need to point out its bearing upon the 

 doctrine of " Natural Selection " which that eminent naturalist and 

 Mr. Wallace have rendered so well known. The antiquity of some 

 of these breeds is not the least interesting part of the subject, nor 

 is the use to which one at least of them has long been applied. 

 The Dove from the earliest period in history has been associated 



^ TTie Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication. London : 1868. 

 Vol. i. rP- 131-224. 



