113 THE RINGBEATER. 



they may now be got, not only with all their peculiarities 

 of flight, but bred to feather as well. He says : " The 

 excellent pigeon fancier, Fiihrer, describes this pigeon, quite 

 unknown in the North of Germany, in the following way : 

 The Ringbeater is a pigeon only yet appearing on the Lower 

 Rhine, and here and there in Westphalia, of stately size, 

 strong figure, and good bearing. The head is covered with a 

 pointed hood; the forehead of middle height, the beak light 

 coloured, the irides according to the plumage, the eyelids 

 bright flesh-coloured, the neck robust, breast and back pro- 

 portionately broad, the legs and feet smooth." He describes 

 a peculiarity in the primary wing feathers, which I under- 

 stand to be, that the fifth from the outside is very much 

 shorter than the fourth, so that, when the wing is extended, 

 the four longest feathers seem to have grown away from the 

 others, and are not in the usual gradation. "The plumage 

 is close-fitting, and marked in all colours as follows : The 

 whole head is white, the line of marking being the breadth 

 of two straws below the eyes ; the tail, with its covert and 

 six flights a side, are white." I am not sure from the 

 description whether this variety is white or coloured on 

 belly and thighs. Their flight is described thus: "The 

 characteristic of these pigeons is their flight; it is true they 

 never fly farther than from roof to roof, but not for a single 

 yard without flapping their wings together, so that it sounds 

 afar; this is particularly done by the cock when courting 

 his hen. A good beater must beat a ring round her from 

 five to six times — i.e., flying around in a circle right and 

 left, making a loud noise by beating his wings together. 

 The hen beats likewise, but less strongly; both beat most 

 in spring. In autumn their flights are so much beaten down 

 that they cannot fly, and they easily meet with accidents. 

 Their quite ragged pinions are then sometimes pulled out, 

 which does not hurt them when done only once in a year. 

 Those birds are most valuable which flap much, and yet pre- 



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