249 POUTING PIGEONS. 



I have had a few of them very well marked to the Pouter 

 standard. A deticiency, or total want of bib, causing the 

 ugly swallow throat, is very common ; so is the blaze face, or 

 snip on the forehead. A flesh-coloured beak usually accom- 

 panies a large snip; the bird is then said to be pink-nosed. 

 The whole front of the crop is often white, and ring-necks 

 are sometimes found. The rose pinion is occasionally seen 

 beautifully defined, but a wing free of any white is more 

 seldom seen than a bishop wing. A good flying bird, however 

 ill marked, is bred from, because perfect flight is not easily 

 got — and so bad marking is perpetuated. 



Flight. — The Cropper is the merriest and liveliest, and 

 can be made the tamest and most familiar, of all pigeons. 

 In the loft, or out of it, he is always on the move, and, so 

 long as he remains in health he keeps in show. The rules 

 for good flying are as follow : A good bird should spring 

 up from his trap like an acrobat from a spring-board, and 

 go off in a cii-cle, loudly clapping his wings, so that he can 

 be heard from afar. His tail must be carried spread out like 

 a fan, but depressed in the middle, so that it has the shape 

 of a scoop. A well-spread scoop tail is valuable, because 

 rare to get. Extra tail feathers are often found in Croppers, 

 some having fourteen or more ; a well-carried tail is all the 

 better to have these extra feathers. Like other breeds in 

 which more than twelve tail primaries are often seen. Croppers 

 generally want the oil gland on the rump. A good Cropper 

 should have a rocking action in his flight, his head and tail 

 going up and down like the movement of a rocking horse. 

 Then, as soon as he gets enough way on his flight, he must 

 stop using his wings, and, raising them, so that they nearly 

 touch at the points, sail motionless through the air, and the 

 longer he can so sail, the more valuable he is. A good bii'd 

 will sail along for 50yds., gradually lowering as he goes ; 

 then, again using his wings, with loud claps, he will rise as 

 much as he has fallen, and go on alternately in this way 



