THE BALDHEAD. 103 



BLACKS 



are rarer still, and very difficult to breed any- 

 where near the mark. They run coarse in head 

 and beak ; the feathers under the breast fre- 

 quently shade off into a slaty tint. Do not 

 breed from these defective birds. They may 

 occasionally throw a good-coloured offspring, but 

 the taint is in the blood, and will show itself 

 most every nest. We want to breed it out. 

 The rich, lustrous jet black, so admired in 

 Carriers, is the beau-ideal black for me, if you 

 please, and such is a treat to look upon, and a 

 treasure to possess. 



A high-bred Black Baldhead, caparisoned in 

 its sheeny sable costume, surpasses the stately 

 grandeur of a Spanish Hidalgo. And when, 

 besides possessing the properties of a shortfaced 

 Tumbler, the bird is well cut and clean thighed 

 and ten a side, it is a prize worth having, and 

 no bird of any other variety could be put in 

 a pen with it alone without suffering by the 

 comparison. To breed such a Baldhead is a 

 supremely difficult task, worthy all the skill, 

 ingenuity, judgment, and devotion an experi- 

 enced Pigeon-Fancier can put into his work ; 

 and when it is an accomplished fact, the joy of 



