328 



PIGEONS. 



of the barb is usually either dun or black ; but there are pied birds 

 of both colours, which are held in but little estimation, as they are 

 supposed to be only half bred. Some of this species are ornamented 

 with a tuft of feathers rising from the back part of the crown of the 

 head. 



THE SPOT, 



Is so called from a spot of colour just above the beak. Its body is 

 mostly white ; the tail feathers generally correspond in colour with 

 the spot, which is either red, yellow, or black, and sometimes, but 

 not very frequently, blue; they invariably breed young ones of their 

 own colour. 



THE DRAGOON. 



Dragoons are a breed between a 

 tumbler and a horseman, and by fre- 

 quently crossing them with the horse- 

 men they acquire much strength and 

 swiftness. They are exceedingly good 

 breeders and make kind nurses, and are 

 therefore often kept as feeders for rearing 

 young Leghorn runts, pouters, &c. The 

 dragoon is rather lighter and smaller 

 1 than the horseman, and one of its chief 

 beauties consists in the straightness of 

 the top of its skull with that of its beak, 

 which, according to the rules of the 

 fancy, should almost form a horizontal line. These birds should be 

 flown and trained while young, in the same way as the horsemen, 

 which they are considered to surpass in swiftness in short flights of 

 from ten to twenty miles ; but in longer distances, if the horsemen 

 are well bred, they will far outstrip the dragoons. 



THE JACOBINE. 



This bird, when perfect in its pro- 

 perties, is scarce. The real jacobine, 

 or, as it is most frequently termed, 

 the Jack, is a very small pigeon and 

 the smaller it is, the more valuable 

 with a range of inverted feathers on 

 the back of its head bending towards 

 the neck, somewhat like the hood or 

 cowl of a monk, and from this pecu- 

 liarity it receives the name of jaco- 

 bine or capper. These feathers are 

 termed the "hood, " and if they are 

 compact and grow close to the head, they enhance the value of the 

 bird considerably; the lower part of the hood is called the " chain," 

 and the feathers composing it should be long and thick. 



A small head, very small spindle-shaped beak, and beautifulljr 



