196 FANCY PIGEONS. 



all others, the sides of the breast feathering before the frill 

 makes its appearance, and the centime of the breast remaining 

 bare for about three weeks from the date of birth. The longer 

 and deeper the gullet is the better, and, if it is not present in 

 a bird when hatched, it never comes later. "With age it gene- 

 rally thickens at its junction with the lower mandible, forming 

 there a little lump, which is, in fact, a jew- wattle. This gives 

 a fulness to a bird's appearance; but it cannot be got on a 

 young one. Gullet, to a more or less extent, is seen some- 

 times in various kinds of pigeons ; but the Owl tribe (in which 

 the Chinese Dewlap Pigeon may be included) and the Mahomet 

 are the only races in which it is regarded as necessary. In 

 them it is a beautiful property, giving that breadth across 

 the neck in profile which adds so much to their appearance, 

 and without which they fail to look well. 



Frill is the property in which the African Owl is most 

 deficient. Great numbers of these birds have been imported 

 entirely wanting in this necessary adornment, while the most 

 have far too little of it. Such frills as those on the wonderful 

 "Whiskered Owls are never seen on African Owls. The frill 

 ought to spread out on each side of the breast, the more of 

 which it covers the better, and is formed by the feathers 

 composing it growing out in all directions. It ought not to 

 lie in any particular position, but stand out from the breast 

 roughly, as I have attempted to show in my drawing. The 

 more confusedly the feathers forming it grow, the better it 

 looks. "Where it joins the gullet it ought to divide, and 

 spread to right and left, and so form the figure of a cross. 

 Hence this race is sometimes called " Cross " Pigeon in 

 Germany {Kreuz Tauhe). None of the Owl tribe, with the 

 exception of the "Whiskered Owl — to be afterwards described 

 — are yet complete in this beautiful property, and when they 

 will be it is impossible even to guess, for their standard 

 of perfection is one so complex, and difficult of attainment, 

 that to have all of it fairly good is as hard a task as the 



