THE PIGEON STANDARD. 37 
Neck.—Lengthy and slender, rather straight and erect, and 
well cut away at its juncture with the throat onwards 
hae hey under mandible, and absolutely devoid of 
: 
. - gullet. 
Body.—(1) Cuest—Wide and full, but not projecting to the 
front. (2) SHouLDERs—Wide and flat, showing mus- 
cular power. (3) BAck—Long and straight, sloping 
from shoulders towards the rump, and showing a 
slight hollowness rather than the reverse. (4) WING 
Butrrs—To protrude ee prt beyond the chest. (5) 
Breast BonE—Long and straight, showing moderate 
depth of keel. 
Legs and Feet.—Stout, muscular and long, both from thighs 
to knee joints, and from the latter to the instep. 
| Fagg thinly feathered ‘to the knee joints; thence 
to the tips of the toes, the legs and claws, free of 
! feathers. Claws firmly set, spreading well out from 
eve of the fuot, nails of the same color as the 
eak. 
| Flights and Tail.—Long in shaft and moderately wide in 
web. The flights should be carried on a level with 
the body and be closely tucked up, resting over the 
. tail, the latter should form a continuous slope in 
continuation of the back and rump, and be carried 
quite clear from the ground at its extremity. 
Size.—Large, measuring as nearly as possible 18 inches from 
the tip of beak to end of tail in length, and 4} inches 
across the widest part of the body, i. e. from shoulder 
to shoulder. 
+ sneering en upright and sprightly; in observant atti- 
= tude. 
Plumage.—With the exception of flight and tail feathers, 
all the plumage should be short in feather, fitting 
very close and compactly to the body, especially on 
the neck, head and shoulder coverings. 
Colors.—(1) Buacks—Ebony shade with deep green lustre, 
(2) Duns—Of one shade all through from head to 
tail. (3) BLurs—Sound but clear tint; dark on 
rump, showing distinct wing and tail, black bars. 
(4) Wurres—Milk-white, displaying a ‘‘satin like” 
lustre on the hackle and breast. 
Nore.—In estimating the value to be allotted to the beak 
wattle and the eye cere, age and sex must be taken 
into account, As a general rule, the Carrier pigeon 
is at its best between 3 and 4 years of age. 
——  ——— 
