347 THE SHORT-FACED TUIViBLER. 



Almonds togetlier occasionally, snch breeding from richly- 

 grounded ones often results in young ones entirely or almost 

 white, with what are called "bladder" eyes, and almost or quite 

 blind. When such a result happens, the pair must be dis- 

 matched at once, and some of the off colours used. I have 

 seen a pair of Almonds produce all the colours I have men- 

 tioned except blacks and black Splashes; so it will easily be 

 seen that there is much uncertainty in the production of this 

 beautiful pigeon, and that it is a study in itself. When I 

 was young in the fancy I thought the Almond Tumbler the 

 finest and the most beautiful of all pigeons, and I was never 

 weary of admiring my first pair, which were Spitalfields- 

 bred birds and cost me a sum of £5. It is over twenty- 

 five years ago since then, but I well remember that I bred 

 five birds from them during their first season (two Almond 

 cocks, an Almond hen, and two Golden Dun hens), which 

 realised me £12, and pigeons were cheaper in those days than 

 of late years. 



Since the secret, so well kept for so long, and which was 

 in reality a trade secret, of manufacturing the heads of Short- 

 faced Tumblers, was given to the world in Fulton's "Book of 

 Pigeons," the Almond fancy has declined; but after a time it 

 will rise again, when the importance attached to the head of 

 the bird gives way to its other beautiful properties. There 

 is enough in the natural Short-faced Tumbler, in all its varie- 

 ties, to entitle it to the position of a very high-class pigeon. 

 The shaping of the skull, which is begun when the squab is a 

 few days old, and continued during its growth in the nest, 

 is done by pressing with a wooden instrument shaped for the 

 purpose, or with the thumb nail, at the root of its beak, and 

 so forcing the bone back into the head, which gives breadth, 

 height, and a deep stop. This is a cruel process, which kills 

 many in the doing, and which renders the lives of those 

 that survive it, for the most part, miserable. No pigeon is so 

 much troubled with vermin as the Short-face, as it is unable, 



