AnpiBt 13, 1874. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



153 



in the same loffc nine years — pretty good specimen of longevity 

 in Pigeons. Tlie wattle must be broad across; an English 

 walnut, with the long diameter across the back, would be a fit 

 illustration; broad from side to aide, short from before back- 

 wards, high and tilting forwards. It looks like a cauliflower, or 

 fungous growth, is pinkish-red in colour, and hard to the touch 

 in old birds, but like velvet in the young. Wlien the bird is 

 diseased, it becomes white or very dark red, the latter being the 

 condition when the bird is gorged by overfeeding and suffering 

 from vertigo. When the birds are moulting, or in bad health, 

 the wattle shrinks very much. Some fanciers desire the wattle 

 to extend under the lower beak, but it is generally preferred 

 that this should not be. The circumference of the wattle of the 

 beak should be over 31 inches. 



The eye is an exceedingly important point with the Carrier. 



Upon it depends much of the impression the bird makes upon 

 his admirers. A dull listless eye will doom the best bird in 

 other respects. Like the same organ in man it is the sentinel 

 of the brain, and upon its alertness depends the judgment passed 

 of the general physical powers. Its glance should be quick, 

 comprehensive, and confident. The colour is a bright orange 

 red, the redder and more fiery the better. It is surrounded by a 

 broad cere, which is of the same nature as the wattle of the beak. 



\ This cere must be smooth, regular, and of equal width all round 

 the eye. It is exceedingly difficult to develop it perfectly at all 

 points, and it is most apt to become thin at the posterior part of 

 the circle, thereby winning the name of pinch-eyed. A cere the 

 size of a silver quarter, or about an inch and a quarter in dia- 



' meter, is a good one. 



, The skull has only of late years commanded attention. At 



D.IA/01.STENH0LM 



Fig. 46. — English OAHRrER pigeon. 





first the fanciers were indifferent whether it was short and thick, 

 or long and narrow. Good taste, however, prevailed, and the 

 demand is for long narrow heads, flat on top or with a slight 

 depression in the centre. Between the wattles of the eyes, as 

 they appear above the head, the distance must not be over half 

 an inch. 



Carriers are of two colours, or rather of one colour — black, with 

 the adjunct colour, dun, by the aid of which the deeper black is 

 maintained in its purity, a cross being often necessary to pre- 

 vent the black from becoming rusty or washed out. 



Reds, whites, yellows, and blues, have been bred, but they are 

 not of much account, and have ranked little better than Horse- 

 men or Dragoons. They occupy about the relative position that 

 paste diamonds do to the genuine articles. 



I have been in the habit of judging Carriers by the following 

 standard : — Ist, size ; 2nd, shape ; 3rd, style ; Ith, colour ; 5th, 

 head ; Gth, eyes ; 7th, beak ; 8th, wattle. 



I use more points than the writers recommend, and place the 

 most neglected first, as it is now easier to obtain a good head- 



and-beak bird than one of good style and shape. — [American 

 Fanciers' Journal.) 



[The above article on the Carrier is from the same lively pen 

 from which emanated that on the Eantail, and which was in- 

 serted in this Journal a short time since. In passing, I will 

 just notice that our cousins across the Atlantic have now two 

 papers devoted to poultry. Pigeons, etc.— the " Poultry Bulletin " 

 and the " Fanciers' Journal." This fact shows the great atten- 

 tion recently paid to these subjects in America. 



Dr. Morgan's article on the Carrier will be read by all with 

 interest, for it is so well written ; but everyone will not wholly 

 aoree with him. Thus English fanciers, or at least exhibitors, 

 vnll probably differ from him in what he says upon the head 

 and beak of the Carrier, points the most difficult of all to breed 

 for, and whatever is most difficult to attain English fanciers 

 think most highly of. Still, the words of the lively doctor will 

 do good. We have at shows too many Roman-nosed birds with 

 beak out of proportion to bird, and these beaks the result of art, 

 not nature. More regard for style would be well. Grace in the 



