338 FANCY PIGEONS. 



inner circle of the eye, to iin., it was usual, when he wrote, 

 to see birds scarcely fin. in face, so that a great improvement 

 had been made. 



In 1851, Mr. Eaton, an enthusiastic fancier of the Almond 

 Tumbler, published another monograph on the breed; so that 

 this pigeon has been twice honoured above all other fancy 

 varieties. Mr. Eaton's book is an unacknowledged reprint of 

 the 1802 one, with additions describing the Almond as it was 

 in his day; and this brings us down to modern times. 



Although it is expressly stated by the author of the Treatise 

 of 1765 that " this beautiful and very valuable species were 

 originally produced from the common Tumblers, being properly 

 matched so as to intermix the feather, viz., blacks, black-grisles, 

 black-splash'd, yellows, whites, duns, &c., and are always attain- 

 able if you are endowed with patience sufficient for the 

 tedious process, which requires a length of time," I have to 

 submit that, as regards the almond feather alone, it is not con- 

 fined to the Tumbler. The author of the Treatise (1765) men- 

 tions an Almond Barb, and an Almond Narrow-tailed Shaker, 

 which were purchased by a certain nobleman, and I have seen 

 Almond Runts and almond-feathered pigeons in India, besides 

 a very good commencement for this colour in a yellow ground, 

 broken to some extent with black, in Turbits and Jacobins. 

 The Oriental Roller and Double-crested Oriental Tumbler also 

 exist almond coloured. The Short-faced Tumbler, however, 

 independent of colour, is a different matter, and how it was 

 produced is a question worth some attention. Not to admit 

 the possibility of its origin from the common Tumbler alone 

 would be a denial of all I have advanced when writing of the 

 origin of fancy pigeons; but certain facts having presented 

 themselves to me in my experience and observation of 

 pigeons, I have acquired the belief that the Short-faced 

 Tumbler is a composite breed, and derived from the com- 

 mon Tumbler and some other varieties. When in India, 

 the love of pigeons, which has possessed me from my child- 



