PEEADAMITE MAN. 133 



accompanied by greatly elongated eyelids, large external ori- 

 fice to the nostrils, and wide gape of mouth. The outline of 

 the shortfaced tumbler's beak is almost like that of a finch ; 

 and the common tumbler has acquired by inheritance the 

 strange habit of flying to a great height, then tumbling down 

 head-over-heels. The runt is a very large breed of pigeon, 

 having long massive beak and large feet. Some runts have 

 very long necks, others very long wings and tails, others very 

 short tails. The barb has a short and broad beak. The 

 pouter has an elongated body, wings, and legs ; moreover, 

 an enormously-developed crop, which it is continually inflat- 

 ing, giving rise to an appearance whence the name of pouter 

 has been acquired. The neck-feathers of the jacobin are all 

 reversed, giving the bird the appearance of a hood ; its wings, 

 moreover, are very elongated, so are its tail-feathers. The 

 voice of the trumpeter and laugher are different from those 

 of other pigeons. The tail-feathers of the fantail amount to 

 thirty or even forty, instead of twelve or fourteen, the ordi- 

 nary number in most of the pigeon family. 



What the anatomist will most be struck with is the skele- 

 ton peculiarity in different breeds of pigeons. In several, the 

 development of the facial bones differs enormously in curva- 

 ture; moreover, not only the length and breadth, but the 

 shape of the ramus of the lower jaw varies remarkably. More 

 extraordinary, the number of vertebra is subject to variation, 

 entailing a corresponding variation in the number of the ribs. 

 f Altogether,' concludes Mr. Darwin, 'at least a score of pigeons 

 might be chosen, which if shown to an ornithologist, and he 

 were told that they were wild birds, would certainly, I think, 

 be ranked by him as well-defined species. Moreover, I do 

 not believe any ornithologist would place the English carrier, 

 the shortfaced tumbler, the runt, the barb, pouter, and fantail 

 in the same genus ; more especially as in each of these breeds 

 several truly inherited sub-breeds or species, as he might have 

 called them, could be shown him.' Nevertheless the author 



