165 THE FANTAIL. 



because they do almost constantly shake or wag their heads 

 and necks up and down. Broad tailed, from the great number 

 of feathers they have in their tails; they say not fewer than 

 twenty-six. When they walk up and down, they do for the 

 most part hold their tails erect, like a hen or Turkey Cock. 

 These also vary much in Colour." It is also necessary, for 

 the better understanding of what I shall have to say, to 

 quote Moore's description, who also terms the bird the Broad- 

 tailed Shaker. " This Pigeon has a beautiful long thin Neck, 

 which bends like the Neck of a Swan, leaning towards the 

 Back ; it has a frequent tremulous Motion, or shaking in 

 the Neck, especially when salacious, which is the Reason 

 they are called Shakers. It has a full Breast, a veiy short 

 Back, and a Tail consisting of a great Number of Feathers, 

 seldom less than four-and-twenty, which it spreads in a very 

 elegant Manner, like the Tail of a Turkey Cock, and throws 

 it up so much that the Head and Tail frequently meet. They 

 are called by some Fan-Tails, and I once saw one that had 

 six-and-thirty Feathers in its Tail; but when they have so 

 many Feathers, it is apt to make them lop their Tails, and 

 not let it meet with their Head, which is a very great Fault. 

 They are most commonly all white, tho' I have seen both black, 

 blue, red, and yellow Pieds, but the white ones have generally 

 the best Carriage in their Tail and Head : There are two 

 Sorts of these Broad tail'd Shakers, the one having a Neck 

 much longer and more slender than the other ; but the longest 

 Neck is the most beautiful and the most esteem'd." 



If the chief varieties of fancy pigeons, excepting the 

 English Pouter and Carrier, did exist in anything like 

 perfection in Moore's time, they must have declined in quality 

 during the following century ; for it is during the lifetime 

 of the present generation that the Barb, Trumpeter, Fantail, 

 Jacobin, Owl, and Turbit have been improved, and in every 

 case by the introduction of foreign blood; so that our day 

 may be well termed the "renaissance" of the fancy. Moore 



