398 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTOEB AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[ May 20, 1876. 



Runts, perfect monthly-nnrses in feathers, see well after the 

 Ponter babies and do not injure their parents. 



Now, good readers, let us in thought enter what I will call 

 Mr. Bullen's Pouters' parlour, for a papered room in a Bath 

 house is too good to be called a Pigeon loft. Around at a suit- 

 able height for inspection — that is, about the height of a table, 

 are arranged the spacious pens in which at the time I saw them 

 the birds were confi'^ed. Some of the pens are made of smooth 

 round bars of wood ; these Mr. Bullen prefers, as they, unlike 

 the wire, cannot injure a feather. Others are of the usual wire, 

 but of different shapes and sizes. Mr. Bullen keeps his birds 

 warm — this is a great point — and they are healthy. The food 

 usually given is peas and tares, in the show season Indian corn 

 and beans. Sand and gravel are at hand. The sexes are sepa- 

 rated in the winter season, a plan which is, I believe, on the 

 whole the best. I forgot to mention that the pens are 22 inches 

 in height, and 2 feet broad and deep. An open space is in the 

 oaiddle of the Pouter parlour. 



Now let me mention some of the occupants of the pens. There 

 is the Black cock first and cup at the Bath Show, with rose 

 pinion of great beauty, with Black hen for mate : these are a 

 splendid pair. Then came a fine Blue pair, hen quite a young 

 thing, but such a globe and limb ! A White cock, again, of very 

 great beauty, and a Black cock of wondrous metallic plumage. 

 There is, too, the Palace first-prize hen and the Oxford Blue 

 ben. Mr. Bullen started this season with well-matched birds 

 for breeding — four pairs of Blues, two Blacks and one White, 

 also a Yellow cock and Red hen. Here were the chosen birds 

 to produce progeny for future triumphs. 



All men have not a tarn for Pigeons, but those who have and 

 are compelled by profession to reside in a city, may take 

 example by Mr. Bullen and see how they can utilise their space 

 and have and enjoy their pets. I could not help noticing anon, 

 what I had often noticed before, how different to all other 

 Pigeons is the Pouter. Not alone his upright, man-like form — 

 for this bird does stand up like a man and look at you — but 

 how unlike other Pigeons be is in gesture and bearing. They as 

 a rule are little flyaway birds; he stands, and stares, and struts 

 near you. How companionable the fellow is ; what a social 

 fellow he is ; how much more there is in him than in others. 

 He keeps one from being dull, for you cannot feel alone in his 

 company. Mr. Bullen's " Pouter parlour " is a great success, 

 so is his cellar full of Runts. By the way, how Sir Wilfred 

 Lawson would rejoice in such a use of a wine-cellar. Softly- 

 cooing, loving Pigeons" he would say, "where once lay, like 

 drunkards, the full bottles." I think he would introduce Mr. 

 Bullen's cellar to the notice even of the House of Commons. I 

 have heard of a clergyman who said he used to go out and thin 

 bis grapes between the heads of his sermon. Perhaps Mr. 

 Bullen finds petting his Pouters equally useful, and after a run 

 into his " Pouter parlour," there come to his mind and pen 

 " Thoughts that hreathe, and words that bom." 



I wish Mr. Bullen every success with his birds, and am glad 

 indeed to see another exhibitor of the noblest of Pigeons take a 

 deservedly high place at our exhibitions. I had seen Mr. 

 Bullen's Pouters abroad, and was even more pleased to see 

 them " at home." — Wiltshiee Rectob. 



In conclusion, I shall be very glad to acknowledge any mistakes 

 I may make when convinced of them, but the Rector will excuse 

 me if I cannot see so clearly as he seems to do. His remarks ou 

 " make and shape " do not at all agree with my ideas. I think 

 he stretches words to suit his case. I leave Moore's words to be 

 rendered by others. — J. C. Lvell. 



[This controversy may now be closed. — Eds.] 



ENGLISH OWLS. 



I WISH to say a few more words in answer to " Wiltshire 

 Eectob." I uphold that I was entirely right in the reading of 

 Moore's remarks on the Owl, that when he says that in " make 

 andshape " it is like theTurbit hemeans thereby that in " make " 

 it is of the same size, in "shape "of the same outline. I can 

 «a8ily see that there may be diametrically opposed opinions on 

 Moore's words, and they caused me a good deal of thinking be- 

 fore I gave my opinion of them, but what decided me was the 

 i&ct of his using two words together that at first reading appear 

 synonymous. Had he used " make " only I would have thought 

 he meant to indicate shape or outline, but putting it as " make 

 and shape " I feel sure he meant to imply that both in size and 

 lines the Owl of his day was like the Turbit. Mayor evidently 

 thought so also. 



The Rector next speaks of climate influencing size, and men- 

 tions Indian Fantails. I have not time to go thoroughly into 

 this matter at present, but will merely say the Scotch Fantail 

 may have been bred smaller since Scotchmen took him in hand, 

 and there may be in India Fantails not half as big as other Fan- 

 tails there, and all sorts of sizes in between. I can assure the 

 Rector that in India there are as big and as little Pigeons as 

 there are in this country, and that it is the breeder's art and not 

 the climate that has made them so. Wild, or semi-wild Blue, 

 Blue chequered, and Mealy Pigeons in India are exactly similar 

 in size to their congeners in the north of Scotland. 



The Powdered Owl is a pretty bird and will have admirers, 

 notwithstanding what may be written against him. He is not 

 pure bred, however ; he is either crossed or has degenerated into 

 coarseness. That is quite apparent when he is put side by side 

 with only a fair specimen of the African Owl. 



SELECTION. 



So many inquiries reaching me referring to the art of select- 

 ing birds for breeding, have induced me to throw into form the 

 results of my theories and experiments. Without argument or 

 any intention of arguing, I shall say I firmly believe that all the 

 varieties of Pigeons have descended from one original source; 

 therefore, to my mind, the breeding of Pouters, Carriers, Fan- 

 tails, &o., from the common Pigeon is a simple fact in nature, 

 depending upon selection extended over a period of time. 

 Having satisfied myself with regard to the truth of the general 

 principle, the minor changes and differences, such as those of 

 colour (as among Toys), beak (as among Carriers and Barbs), 

 shape and heads become easy problems, the truth of which can 

 be demonstrated, and is demonstrated every day, in the lofts of 

 every Pigeon fancier. 



It is not necessary for one to be told when he sees smoke 

 there is always fire ; he knows that, because in his experience 

 fire is always the cause of smoke ; so when one sees a key it 

 suggests the lock. Now, in all the varieties of Pigeons one 

 recognises all the parts of the common Pigeon, and not only do 

 we recognise the parts, but, as at school we used to do our sums 

 backwards to prove them, so do all the varieties gradually recede 

 or degenerate into the common Pigeon when neglected by the 

 power that selected and stamped them as varieties, thus proving 

 themselves descendants of the commons. Pouters become 

 smaller and smaller when allowed to intermingle, Carriers lose 

 in wattle and size, Fantails drop their tails, and Tumblers become 

 coarse. 



Thus believing, I see numerous possibilities, and have, by 

 direct experiment, satisfied myself and friends with regard to 

 many of them. 'That all the Toys are but modifications of 

 colour applied to the common white bird is evident to anyone, 

 as is the application of the key to the lock ; and there is not so 

 much difference in the markings as one would suppose at first 

 sight; for instance, the Spot, Helmet, Swallow, Nun, and 

 Magpie all have black heads in easy gradation one to the other. 

 The Spot, Helmet, Nun, and Magpie have black tails ; the 

 Swallow's tail has become white; while it, the Helmet (until 

 lately) and Nun retain the black wings. The Owl, Turbit, and 

 Jacobin are also not many removes from the common, though 

 the heads and bills are more evident departures than the mere 

 colouring. As we reach the high fancies the differences become 

 more extravagant, and in the wattled birds we see the beak of 

 the common greatly enlarged, as is also the cere of the eye. The 

 head is moulded to a long and narrow form, or shortened and 

 thickened. In the Pouter we see the common enlarged in all 

 its proportions, as in the Tumbler it is diminished. We know 

 that these removes from the common specimen are the products 

 of mankind by the evidence (history) of the last hundred years, 

 and by the changes in colour, shape, and size that accumulate 

 in everyone's loft, and that need but a little encouragement to 

 bloom into new varieties. 



Colour is the easiest of all distinctions to fix. Five or six 

 years will enable one to obtain almost any marking he wishes. 

 And I will give an illustration of one thing I have done within 

 the last few years : I wished to obtain white Fantails with black 

 tails, and there was no way but to breed them. I first crossed 

 with the Nun, and spent several years manipulating the crosses, 

 but without obtaining satisfaction. Some of the birds were 

 fair, and if I had been patient I should have obtained all that 

 was wished; but steaming ahead in true American style, I found 

 a sport in a friend's loft ; it was a black hen with white breast 

 and head. This bird was procured and matched to a fine white 

 cock, and their young were white, black, or speckled, with now 

 and then one with the colours nearly where I wished them. 

 Those which were nearly perfect were matched together, and 

 my efforts were to have the line of division between the white 

 and black as near the tail coverts as possible, and to prevent foul 

 feathers appearing. The fouls were tenacious, and it was some 

 time before I got rid of them and succeeded in breeding a perfect 

 bird. Had I continued with the first lot there would not have 

 been so many foul feathers to contend against; but the carriage 

 would have had to be carefully bred for; as it was, the birds 

 were much admired, and were a source of satisfaction as long 

 as they were in my possespion, not so much because of their 

 rarity as because they were the products of an experiment 

 that was much laughed at by knowing fanciers, who invariably 

 predicted failure. I also started a strain from a couple of sports, 

 from yellow and white stock, afterwards discovering a snell 

 ancestry. 

 To change a physical conformatio requires more time and 



