78 FANCY PIGEONS. 



goes by the name of Moon, Crescent, and Badge of Honour 

 Pigeon. It is of the common type in head, beak, and 

 body, is smooth-headed, and should be heavily hocked, 

 and feather-legged and footed. The irides are yellow or 

 orange, and the beak and nails correspond with the colour 

 of the markings. There are three principal colours in this 

 breed — viz., the Red, Yellow, and Black-barred. The ground 

 colour of all should be of a satiny white tint, shaded off into 

 a very clear light mealy, buff, or blue, according to the colour 

 of the marks; the first have red or rich brown wing bars 

 and breastplate (which must be a clean-cut half-moon, as in 

 the illustration); the second have similar yellow markings; and 

 the third, a crescent of the colour of the neck of a blue 

 pigeon, and black wing bars and tail bar. The red and 

 yellow-marked ones correspond with the red and yellow mealy 

 colours, which do not, of course, have a dark bar at the end 

 of the tail. The crescent, or breastplate, should in all be 

 well-lustred, and when its points meet at the back of the 

 neck it is ring-necked, which is a great defect. Neumeister 

 says : " The fledged young ones have no crescent marks on 

 the breast; it only becomes visible after the first moulting. 

 The more the ground colour approaches to pure white, and 

 the darker and narrower at the same time the wing bars are, 

 the more highly is the pigeon valued. It is quite a par- 

 ticular species, and loses all value by cross-breeding. In the 

 South of Germany, and in Switzerland, it is often found 

 without wing bars, with smooth feet and a yellowish crescent, 

 although very heavily feathered feet seem to be peculiar to 

 this race. Among the Swiss Pigeons the Starling Neck is 

 sometimes reckoned, also the Whole-coloured Pigeon, with no 

 crescent, but with white wing bars, which resembles it very 

 much. The Red and Yellow Swiss Pigeons, with dark eyes and 

 crescent, originating from suitable pairing with the Blue Star- 

 ling Neck, although they occur very seldom, are a beautiful 

 variety, which are paid large prices for by amateurs. The 



