346 FANCY PIGEONS. 



As the Almond feather is a composite one, made up of 

 various colours, it is preserved by tlie judicious crossing of 

 its various sub-varieties, such as Kites, Duns, Agates, and 

 "Whole-feathers. Kites are of various shades, from such as 

 are almost black, with only the primaries bronzed with yellow, 

 to such as have the yellow cast on their feathers more or less 

 all over them, especially on the breast. Duns also show the 

 yellow on their neck and breast feathers when rich in colour, 

 and are then called Golden Duns, Duns are almost invari- 

 ably hens, and, when bred from two well-grounded Almonds, 

 are useful for matching with a rich Almond. Agates are 

 such as are red or yellow, splashed or mottled with white. 

 They are of various markings, some showing a preponderance 

 of colour, and others of white. Whole-feathers are either red 

 or yellow, and when sound in colour through flights and 

 tail (which is sometimes seen in reds, and very rarely in 

 yellows), they are both valuable for Almond breeding and for 

 themselves, as they are the choicest of the sub-varieties of 

 the Almond. Black Splashes, or what might be called black 

 Agates, appear to have been formerly used in Almond breed- 

 ing; but this colour seems to have been bred entirely out of 

 our modern birds, which is, perhaps, the cause of the black 

 pencilling in our Almonds being usually of a kitey or dun 

 black, and, on this account, a cross of a good black mottle, 

 or mottle-bred black, might be of advantage. Even the 

 darkest Kites always show a smoky tail, barred at the end 

 with darker colour; and, however much such birds may assist 

 in breaking the feather in Almond breeding, they cannot 

 impart the desired velvety black colour. Red and yellow 

 Whole-feathers, grizzled with white in flights and tail, or Agate 

 Whole-feathers, as they have been called, are merely unsound 

 reds and yellows, weak in strength of colour. All these sub- 

 varieties of the Almond are used in Almond breeding, and 

 are matched with Almonds according to the way they 

 are themselves bred. Although it is not unusual to breed 



