90 THE IMPORTANCE OF BIKD LIFE 



the pouter pouts, and the tumbler tumbles. 

 Certain high-fliers are tritely named tipplers. 



It is impossible to decipher the origin of many 

 breeds, so confused are they with crossing and 

 re-crossing. While several have come up, so to 

 speak, from the dark ages, others evolved in re- 

 gions where we are unable to find a trace of their 

 ancestry. Certain breeds have been created by 

 selection for speed and homing ability, some for 

 the performance of aerial acrobatics, and others 

 for color combinations and strange body adorn- 

 ment. In the last class fall the fancy sorts such 

 as the hooded jacobins of many colors, the black 

 shields, and the fantails. Show homers and 

 exhibition tumblers are not performers in the 

 air, but take preeminence in the show pen. 



Pigeons are one of the species particularly 

 susceptible to artificial selection, as much so as 

 the domestic cock. Not only do we find a great 

 variance of color and marking among them, but 

 a wide divergence in actual form and character. 

 The fantails, for instance, have an enormous, 

 fan-like spread of tail, the feathers of which 

 number from thirty to forty or more instead of 

 the normal fourteen, and the bird is so " chesty " 

 that it resembles a fat man beating a bass drum. 

 A great feathered hood curves forward over the 

 head of the jacobin and hides the eyes and bill. 

 The Oriental frills own, in addition to frills, large 

 crests and complicated color patterns. The pouter 



