98 THE PIGEON-FANCIER. 



colour, and the brighter and more silvery this is 

 the better. Frequently birds are " bull-eyed ; " 

 that is to say, one eye is of a dark dead colour. 

 This fault prevails in birds that are low cut, and 

 that have an excess of white blood in them. I 

 have^a beautiful black hen, otherwise good, but 

 being low cut and fifteen a side is, of course, 

 bull-eyed. 



This fault is peculiar to Baldheads. I never 

 saw it in Beards or Almonds, except in white 

 birds Almond-bred, and in these it is called 

 purry-eyed. I never breed from bull-eyed birds 

 now, because I have proved by bitter experience 

 it is spending time and trouble for nought. 

 You rear a young one in the nest for four or 

 five weeks, good all round. You are hopeful 

 it will turn out well. Every morning with 

 fearful joy you examine critically the eyes of 

 the squeaker. One eye gradually gathers lustre 

 and brightens beautifully ; the other eye remains 

 dull and dead as ditch water, the old hereditary 

 fault reasserting itself. Bull-eyed birds are a 

 delusion and a snare. Do not breed from them 

 if you would eradicate a prominent blemish 

 which renders the Baldheads unsightly to look 

 upon and provoking to breed. 



