161 



POWTER OR CROPPER PIGEON. 



Columba var. Gutturosa subrubicunda. 

 PLATE XV 



Columba (var.) gutturosa subrubicunda. Pigeon grosse 

 gorge soupe en vin, Monog. des Pig. Domest. p. 173. 



THE faculty of inflating the oesophagus, to a li- 

 mited extent, appears to be possessed by the pigeon 

 and all its varieties, and is no doubt in some way 

 connected with and essential to its economy ; but 

 in this variety it is developed to an extraordinary 

 extent, far exceeding that of any of its congeners, 

 and can only be considered as resulting from a mon- 

 strous or unnatural formation of the gullet. In what 

 is considered the pure, or most esteemed examples of 

 this sort, that is, where this power is the greatest, 

 the oesophagus, when fully inflated, sometimes equals 

 the body itself in dimensions. As might be sup- 

 posed, this peculiarity subjects the bird to many in- 

 conveniences, and frequently to fatal accidents, for 

 when thus puffed out to its full extent, the bird, in 

 order to sustain its centre of gravity, is obliged to 

 keep in an upright or nearly perpendicular position, 



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