140 FANCY PIGEONS. 



as in matured birds; while with young ones in the nest this 

 point is so developed that it gives them a very strange ap- 

 pearance. In colour they are of a rich, deep, burning red, 

 glossy with metallic lustre, and within very little of the best 

 red I have ever seen in any domestic pigeons. I have also 

 had Yellow Runts of the same race as these Reds, and as 

 good for their colour, but they were mottled in the way the 

 Short-faced Mottled Tumbler ought to be marked, that is, 

 rose pinioned on each wing, and handkerchief backed. The 

 marking was just about as accurate as it could be painted 

 in a picture. I am astonished, therefore, that, considering all 

 these fine properties of colour, marking, real pearl eyes, and 

 large size, anyone should write of the Runt as having only 

 the one point of size. In France, these Fancy Runts are to 

 be had in black, red, and yellow, both self-coloured and 

 mottled. Pure whites with pearl eyes are, I believe, the 

 rarest. They are all very bad fliers, and, although good 

 breeders, the young are somewhat delicate, and difficult to 

 rear. The fancy coloured ones do not reach the great size 

 of the Blues and Silvers, and from 41b. to 4Mb. a pair is a 

 good weight for them. Being powerful pigeons, Runts should 

 not be kept with small varieties. When to great strength a 

 spiteful disposition is joined, as it often is with them, they 

 become rather dangerous to other pigeons. 



Boitard and Corbie mention several varieties of the Pigeons 

 Bomains distinct in colour and marking, some of the most 

 beautiful being described as follows : 



Pigeon Romain Mantele. — All red except the wing coverts 

 and under body, which are white. Brent mentions these under 

 the name of Tigre Bouge. The white mantle probably appears 

 only after the first moult. 



Pigeon Bomain Marcanu. — Always black or dun (minime), 

 the head having a mixture of white feathers, giving it a 

 grey appearance ; irides pearl. 



Pigeon Bomain Gris Piquete. — One of the largest of the 



