332 FANCY PIGEONS. 



feathers will, in a good one, be black only a little way behind 

 the middle of the crown, and those feathers which adjoin 

 the rising shell will be white. By the time the feathers are 

 full grown the black will reach the shell, but not rise 

 against it. The black marking of the head should run round 

 the corners of the shell, so that, when the bird is viewed from 

 behind, two black, pointed patches, are seen, and the colour 

 should run down the sides of the neck to the breast, with a 

 wide sweep, forming the bib, which ought to be evenly cut. 



The flight feathers, or ten primaries, should be black. Moore 

 only speaks of six coloured flights in the Nun, but no bird with 

 less than ten-a-side can be reckoned a standard one now. Eight- 

 a-side certainly looks a full flight when the wing is closed, 

 but not when the bird is flying; however, eight-a-side, with 

 quite clean butts of the wings, is preferable to more black 

 flights with the spurious wing and adjacent feathers coloured, 

 a very common fault with all Nuns, especially with full- 

 flighted ones. Here, again, plucking is often resorted to ; but 

 an examination of the open wing will enable the searcher to 

 detect it, if at all extensive. The twelve tail feathers, with 

 their upper and under coverts, must also be black, and cut 

 sharply across. There should be no black feathers over the 

 rest of the body, nor white ones among the black markings; 

 but a prevailing foul marking is at the knees, or hocks, where 

 the thigh feathers finish off. 



The feet and legs of the black Nun, when in the nest, are 

 either quite black or heavily patched with black, but this 

 generally wears away afterwards, though some birds retain it 

 partly, especially those of a very rich colour. The black Nun looks 

 much better, however, with bright vermilion- coloured legs and 

 feet. The nails of the toes should be quite black, though many 

 a good bird has a small fault in having some of them light. 



Probably on account of the less contrast in colour, red 

 and yellow-headed Nuns have not been so much fancied by 

 breeders as blacks; at least, they do not exist in such per- 



