124 FANCY PIGEONS. 



told, about the true Narrow-tailed Shaker, which is the Indian 

 Mookee, a pigeon having the tremulous shaking neck of the 

 Fantail, and a close, narrow tail, with the normal number of 

 twelve feathers. 



The head of the Mookee is flat, showing no stop, and its 

 beak rather longer than that of a common flying Tumbler; it 

 is also generally peak-headed. The irides are dark hazel in 

 colour. The upper mandible is white, and the lower follows 

 the plumage. The whole head is white above a line running 

 across the eyes. The two longest flight feathers should be 

 white, and all the rest of the bird coloured. The head often 

 comes foul or unequally cut, and the flights often foul. 

 Three, or even four a side, are better than unequal flights, 

 but two a side are considered the standard. The curious 

 thing about the Mookee is the tremulous shaking of the neck, 

 which is never absent, and which is most constant when the 

 bird is salacious. It is singular to see the cock driving the 

 hen to nest ; his head and neck shake continually backward 

 and forward, but he never loses his balance. The tail is 

 carried horizontally and close, as in most pigeons. 



I have seen all colours in this breed, as in the Sherajee, 

 but the great majority are black. Blues with black bars, 

 barless blues, and duns, are next in order of number, while 

 reds and yellows are comparatively scarce, though they were 

 to be seen in the possession of several Calcutta fanciers ten 

 years ago. 



Putting aside the curious markings, it is obvious that the 

 Mookee is not a bastard Fantail, for, united to a close tail 

 of twelve feathers, it has all the shaking of ordinary Fantails ; 

 and it is known that, in crossing the Fantail, its tremulous 

 neck motion is lost long before the tail is reduced to twelve 

 feathers. It is as probable that extra tail feathers in the 

 Mookee resulted in the Broad-tailed Shaker as that it was 

 bred down from the Fantail. No one can say now how either 

 variety was produced, and to experiment on the subject would 



