88 PIGEONS. 



When in perfection, tumblers are esteemed by many persons 

 to be the prettiest of all the pigeon tribe; and this high opinion 

 is borne out by the beautiful diversity of their colors, which 

 are so elegant and rich, in some birds, that they have been 

 compared to a bed of tulips. The more they are variegated in 

 the flight and tail, especially if the ground color be yellow, the 

 more they are prized; and a fine bright-yellow ground has the 

 precedence of all others, from its being so exceedingly difficult 

 to acquire, that twenty light-colored birds may be procured for 

 one displaying a deep, richly-tinted ground. 



THE CARRIER. 



The carrier, Pigeon de Turquie, of the French, is somewhat 

 larger than most of the common pigeons; its feathers lie very 

 close and smooth, and its neck is long and straight. From the 

 lower part of the head to the middle of the upper chap, there is 

 a lump of white, naked, fungous-looking flesh, which is denom- 

 inated the "wattle;" this, in good birds, is met by two small 

 swellings of similar flesh, which rise on each side of the under 

 chap ; and if this flesh be of blackish color, the bird is con- 

 sidered very valuable. The circle round the black pupil of the 

 eye is usually of a brick-dust-red color; but if it be of a 

 brilliant red tint, it adds considerably to the value of the bird ; 

 this circle is surrounded by another of naked fungous flesh, 

 generally about the breadth of a half eagle, the greater the 

 breadth of which, the more it is admired. When the incrusted a 

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