THE BALDHEAD. 91 



ter into his book, of which there is great scarcity, 

 by appropriating half a column to the Baldhead 

 and his cousin the Beard. By the way, who is 

 the author of that Treatise ? The authorship of 

 it has evoked within the circle of the Fancy as 

 much anxiety and speculation as the renowned 

 Letters of Junius produced amongst politicians 

 and litterateurs sixty years ago. This being the 

 first printed record of the Baldhead, it is worthy 

 of reproduction in these less historic pages. The 

 writer says : " The bald-pated Tumblers, which 

 are of various colours in their body, as blacks, 

 blues, &c., with a clean white head, a pearl eye, 

 white flight, and white tail, are esteemed good 

 flyers, and are very pretty even when flying in 

 the air, for the contrast of the feather appears 

 at that distance when the weather is clear and 

 fine." 



So at present our favourite Pigeon is only a 

 longfaced flying Tumbler worth eighteenpence. 

 To our taste, no sight in the air is prettier than 

 a cloud of Baldheads sporting on the wing, per- 

 forming their evolutions and gyrations, provoking 

 redundant amusement and admiration amongst 

 the watchers on terra firma. These seriel acro- 

 bats are reputed to have sustained themselves 

 on the wing from five to ten hours at a stretch. 



