670 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



of their ancestors. &quot;Wings must be carried easily below the tail and touching at the tips. If 

 held up closely they spoil the shape of the tail by bending the lower feathers out of line, and 

 as this fault is very hereditary, a Fantail so marred should not be used unless of necessity. 

 The wing butts should be concealed by the small body feathers, and the whole feathering as 

 tight as careful breeding combined with good condition can produce. Young birds do not 

 have such graceful carriage of head and neck as their parents, being inclined to stand too 

 erect, but with age fine-bred Fans, as a rule, gradually acquire the desired outlines. 



The head, beak, and feet must be fine in shape and small sized. No Fantail coarse in 

 these three points can possibly look high-bred. In mating for breeding I should use a good 

 Scotch male of the most approved form and motion, with a tail well filled in the centre, and 

 carried right up to its head. He should be clean footed and close feathered, but a good 

 spread must not be expected, such stock, to the best of my belief, not being for sale. The hen 

 must be chosen chiefly for shape, size, and fitness of tail, in which she ought to be especially 

 fine to offset the deficiences of her mate. As shape, good or bad, is very hereditary, the most 

 of their young will be apt to have the graceful bearing of the sire, and one or two may 

 possess fairly excellent tails also. 



The best young cock may be bred next season with his mother, and in this way, there 

 will be a fair prospect of breeding in one bird a grand spread and the desired style of the first 

 Scotch cock. This system has resulted successfully in my own loft, and can be tried again 

 by any fancier fortunate enough to get the required stock, in getting which all the difficulty 

 lies. Fantails should not be bred so small as to have neither constitution nor tail. On the 

 other hand, they must not be too large, since they are not judged by &quot;size and weight.&quot; In 

 keeping up a strain which will annually produce a large average of fine young, a most rigid 

 system of selection and mating is necessary.&quot; These birds are very affectionate, and love to 

 be petted. 



Other Varieties of Pigeons. The limits of this department will not admit of tho 

 description of an extended variety of pigeons; we will, therefore, add briefly but a few others 

 to those already given. THE MAGPIE pigeon derives its name from its close resemblance to 

 the bird of that name. It is bred in blue, black, yellow, and red colors, some of the varieties 

 being very handsome. THE SWALLOWS are characterized by a skull cap and heavily- feathered 

 feet and legs. Their points of marking are as follows: &quot; First, the head; the upper mandible 

 should be dark and the lower light; the scalp or top of the head in a line from the corners of 

 the mouth across the eye, evenly marked, passing around to the back of the head, dark, but 

 in those that are turned-crowned, the head must be perfectly white. Secondly: The wings of 

 these should be wholly colored, without any white feathers, but the epaulets or scapular 

 feathers which lie on the back, at the junction of the wing to the body, should be quite 

 white, and as they overlay a part of the wing when closed, it necessarily appears narrow, 

 which is considered a particular point. Thirdly: The feet, if shod, should be thickly covered 

 with colored feathers from the heel or nack-joint to the toes; but the boots, or as Cochin 

 fanciers would style it, the vulture-hock, must be white.&quot; 



There are, in all, nine sub-varieties of this class of birds. THE OWL pigeon is closely 

 allied to the Turbit, and derives its name from the form of its bill, which resembles that of 

 an owl. The three classes of this variety are the English, the African or Foreign, and the 

 Whiskered Owl. The English is the largest and most hardy. The Whiskered Owl derives 

 its name from an extra development of frill, which consists of another frill crossing the one 

 extending up the centre of the breast, and extending from side to side until it nearly meets 

 behind the neck of the bird. The frill is one of the important points in these birds, and con 

 sists of tufts of feathers extending from the back to the lower part of the breast, and 

 resembles the ruffle of the old-fashioned shirts worn by our ancestors in revolutionary times. 

 In birds that are perfectly formed, this should be widely and evenly developed. 



