80 THE PIGEON-FANCIER. 



that he is of opinion that the title King of 

 Pigeons, formerly conferred on the Carrier, should 

 now be awarded to the new favourite, which 

 deserved more than the old the honours of the 

 purple. It was then " a very small pigeon with 

 a short body, short legs, a full chest, a thin 

 neck, a very short and spindle beak and a round 

 button head, and the iris of the eye a bright 

 pearl colour, and when in perfection is perhaps 

 as great, if not the greatest, curiosity in the 

 whole fancy of pigeons." From this gushing 

 description we are prepared for something de- 

 cidedly grand when the artist's pencil labours to 

 produce the portrait ; but from the accompanying 

 illustration, reproduced from the treatise of 1765, 

 we see the pencil brings forth merely a pleasant- 

 faced bird. 



From this date the fame of the Almond was 

 secured. It was impossible otherwise. Such a 

 prepossessing bird was adapted to win its way 

 into the affection of the Fanciers. They are a 

 highly susceptible race of mortals ; to them a 

 thing of beauty is a joy for ever. After a lapse 

 of thirty-seven years, bringing us to 1802, Mr. 

 Windus writes his celebrated treatise on the 

 Almond Tumbler. Mr. Windus was a solicitor, 

 and in his trained hand the pen is a very 



