187 THE JACOBIN. 



a whole-colonred red cock and wliite hen. They were 

 common pigeons of mixed race, and certainly may have had 

 Baldhead Tumbler blood in them, but I think it unlikely. 

 The young ones had very low-cut, slobbered necks, and I 

 merely mention them to show that a coloured bird, mated to 

 a pure white, often breeds coloured young ones with white 

 points. I had lately a similar instance in my pigeon house. 

 A pure white, peak-headed, cock common pigeon, with an 

 appearance of Fantail blood, mated with a whole dun Tumbler 

 hen, used as feeders, reared a pair of their own young ones, 

 their eggs not having been changed. One was a blue Bald- 

 head, and the other a dun Baldhead — such another pair as 

 those I began the fancy with, thirty-five years ago, when 

 aged seven. Again, when passing through Leadenhall Market 

 one summer, I saw a cage containing two or three dozens of 

 blue and blue-chequered dovehouse pigeons, among which 

 was one with clean white head and flights. I looked at it 

 particularly, and felt certain it was of the same race as the 

 rest. It was, most likely, the produce of a blue and a white, 

 or albino, such as may be found in almost any field dovecote. 

 In fact, a coloured body with white points may be found in 

 many domestic animals, such as horses, dogs, and rabbits, 

 and was doubtless originally produced from the cross of 

 self-colours with albinos. I merely mention all this, because 

 some people refer the marking of the Jacobin to the Bald- 

 headed Tumbler, while nothing is more certain than that it 

 could have been produced without any admixture of alien 

 blood. 



The head of the Jacobin ought to be white above a line 

 running from the mouth across the eyes. Both mandibles are 

 white in rich-coloured reds and yellows ; but a high-cut black 

 has often the lower mandible coloured, or pai-tly so. There 

 is a natural line between the eyes and mouth, which serves as 

 a guide for marking; at the same time, a few of the short 

 feathers below this line are generally white, or, if not, a few 



