271 POUTING PIGEONS. 



Pigeon, except that tlie liead is white. There seems, from 

 what Neumeister says, to have been formerly a similarly 

 marked German Cropper. The Prague Magpie Cropper, 

 though shown with a white head on his coloured plate, has 

 evidently not a pure white head, as he says that, from the 

 beak to the middle of the head, it is of a " coloured paleness," 

 probably meaning that the head is of a powdered colour. 



This concludes the account of the large Continental Croppers 

 as gathered from the French and German writers named. 



Tegetmeier says, at page 71 of his Book on Pigeons, regard- 

 ing foreign Croppers : " Many of these birds are very prettily 

 marked ; a pair, a short time since, came into our possession 

 of a very bright yellow, with pure white wings and flight 

 feathers, and well-defined white rings round the necks." This 

 marking nearly resembles that of the Prague Magpie Cropper, 

 already described, to which race they probably belonged. 



The Bengal Pouter Pigeon. 



I have seen in Bengal several Croppers of a breed which 

 I believe is peculiar to that country. They were of a size 

 between the English Pouter and Norwich Cropper, feathered 

 on the legs, but not roughly, and by no means very graceful- 

 looking pigeons. They were called by a name which signifies 

 sivell neck. Such as I saw were either self-coloured blue, or 

 blue grizzled in colour. They were evidently bred for crop 

 alone, being short in limb and feather. Considering their size, 

 some of them had very large crops. They seem to me to 

 have no connection with English Pouters, several imported 

 specimens of which I have seen in Bengal from time to 

 time. There are probably several other varieties of 

 Croppers throughout India and adjacent countries. 



Foreign Pigmy Pouters. 



Several varieties of Continental Pigmy Croppers have 

 been known in this country for a good many years. The 



