Chapter XXIX. 



o< TURKESTAN PIGEONS. >o 



R. T. B. COOMBE WILLIAMS, M.A., lias 

 lately described, and illustrated with, wood- 

 cuts, in tlie periodical Poultry (July 3 — 

 Oct. 30, 1885), a series of skins of fancy pigeons 

 belonging to tlie Zoological Department of the 

 British Museum, South Kensington. They were collected by 

 Dr. Scully, a member of an expedition that visited Turkestan 

 in 1875, and were procured in the city of Tarkand. The 

 following is part of a note written by Dr. Scully regarding 

 them : — 



" In the spring and summer of 1875 I purchased all the 

 varieties of domestic pigeons that I could find in the place. 

 "When I found that my stay in the country would be limited 

 to a short time, I thought it might be worth while to pre- 

 pare skins of all the varieties to which the natives give 

 distinct names. In this way I found that there were about 

 twenty-six named varieties, of which the accompanying skins 

 are specimens. 



" These varieties are said by the Tarkandis to breed true, 

 and tlie fanciers select and match the different kinds. The 



